


If he won't be here next year

by klainesdalton (agronsies), Mindfilledwithletters



Category: Glee
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, M/M, emotional breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agronsies/pseuds/klainesdalton, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindfilledwithletters/pseuds/Mindfilledwithletters
Summary: Blaine's boyfriend breaks up with him just before Christmas. The tickets are booked already, so Rachel tells him to ask her friend Kurt. It seems to be the perfect solution for all problems. Kurt can't afford a ticket home and Blaine needs someone to step in as his boyfriend as he can't show up to his homophobic parents empty-handed after begging them to let him bring someone home.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	If he won't be here next year

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is a Christmassy Klaine fic. I wanna wish everyone a very merry Christmas! The title is from Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me.  
> A special thank you to Rhi (she's listed under co-creators, check her out as well!) for proofreading this entire thing.  
> Any of the mistakes in here are mine. 
> 
> Trigger warning for homophobia and a mental breakdown.
> 
> I don't own anything.

Standing in front of the announcement board, Kurt was debating whether he should sign up for the Christmas Dinner NYADA annually organised for those who would be alone at Christmas. Kurt didn't have enough money saved to be able to fly back to Ohio and since the tire shop hadn't run as smoothly as he’d liked it to, Burt didn't have the financial needs to fly to New York either. It would be their first Christmas apart and both men were still trying to come to terms with it. 

"Hey, you're Kurt Hummel, right?" It sounded, interrupting Kurt's thought process. 

"Sorry? I didn't catch that?" Kurt scratched his head, trying to recall what the stranger, who did look familiar, said to him. 

"I asked if you're Kurt Hummel." 

"Yes, I am? To what do I owe the honour?" Kurt questioned, he didn't see a reason for the stranger to talk to him. He was sure he wasn't in any of his classes, so it couldn't be about that. Somehow, he hoped the stranger would talk to him more often as he seemed to be breathtakingly beautiful. 

"Well, I have a proposition," the boy said, he refused to meet Kurt's curious eyes. 

"What? How do you even know who I am?" 

"I've seen you around," he stammered, before adding that he had some classes with Rachel, who had actually told him about Kurt. 

"Still, that doesn't explain why you'd talk to me," Kurt said sounding more hostile than he would've liked to. He didn't want to scare the guy away, he had just been taken off guard. 

"Sorry, erm, but Rachel said you won't be able to fly home to Ohio and I, erm, might have a solution for that?" 

"This is not making any sense? Plus, I'd like to know your name before you offer to take me home." 

"Oh sorry, I'm Blaine," the stranger, or well, Blaine, extended his hand to shake Kurt's in a firm handshake. 

"Nice to meet you," Kurt smiled, still a bit confused as to what was going on. Blaine's offer seemed weird, I mean, Christmas is all about doing charity work, although Kurt would never think of himself as charity work, but just offering a stranger a ride home was not something that would be considered normal. 

"So, as I was saying, I could maybe help you get home for the holidays, I do however need a favour," Blaine stated again, he was looking around himself, still not meeting eyes with Kurt. 

"What are you even talking about? I don't understand." 

"Okay, so, uhm, I'm from Ohio too. I live in Westerville, which is a couple of hours away from Lima, or so Rachel said. And, uhm, I begged my parents to fly me and my boyfriend out for Christmas. They were very hesitant as they're not fond of me being gay and all that, but they caved in eventually. Problem is, my boyfriend, is now an ex-boyfriend," Blaine finally met eyes with Kurt, although he soon wished he hadn't as Kurt's eyes were filled with sympathy. 

"So, you're saying I can fly out to Ohio with you if I pretend to be your boyfriend?" Kurt asked, it seemed weird to him, but he also understood where Blaine was coming from. 

"Erm, yes?" 

Kurt reached out to take Blaine's hand as Blaine kept fumbling with them and it was driving Kurt crazy. 

"This is crazy, can I, erm, think about it?" Kurt asked, letting go of Blaine's hand again. It seemed inappropriate to hold it when he was practically turning Blaine's proposal down. 

"Of course," Blaine breathed with relief. He looked up to meet Kurt's eyes again, the sympathy was now vacant, but Blaine couldn't read the emotion that had overtaken now. 

Kurt's mind was doing overhours, he would practically do anything to be together with his dad for the holidays, however, fake dating a guy with homophobic parents might be something he'd draw the line at. He would also have to have a stern talking with Rachel about all this. 

"Maybe I could give you my phone number, so you can let me know your answer?" Blaine asked hesitantly, he looked up to Kurt with hope in his eyes. He hoped Kurt would accept his offers, both his phone number and the plane ticket. 

"Yes, yes, that could work out," Kurt agreed, wiggling his phone out of the pocket of his painfully tight jeans. He unlocked the phone by putting in his password and handed it to Blaine after opening a new contact.

Blaine quickly typed in his number before smiling at Kurt. "C'mere," he motioned, getting Kurt to stand next to him instead of opposite him. He raised the phone up in the air, and Kurt matched the big grin. Blaine snapped the picture and saved the picture. He sent the picture to himself, because even if it didn't work out the way he would like it to, the picture was still hella cute. 

Kurt extended his hand to receive his cellphone back again. He smiled at Blaine, readjusted the jacket he had wrapped around his arm, before excusing himself. He was still slightly weirded out by what he had just experienced, but he had a feeling that things would end well. He would have to confront Rachel before making a final decision though. 

-

"Rachel Berry," Kurt screamed as he entered the apartment. He threw his keys in the bowl he had set on the tasteful side table he'd picked out for the hallway. He put his coat on the coat rack, before searching the apartment for his friend. He quickly found her in her room. She was rummaging through sheet music, probably preparing for the Winter Showcase she'd be performing at. She didn't even look up when Kurt opened the door to her room, so Kurt threw the door shut before opening it up again. 

"Excuse you," Rachel said, looking disapprovingly at her best friend, "I thought we agreed to use our mouths in this house." She crossed her arms over her chest while she schooled her friend. 

"Well, I did, but you failed to notice," Kurt snapped. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Rachel and her ‘better-than-you’ attitude. 

"So, what's this about? What did I do this time?" Rachel sighed, she had better things to do than argue with her friend. 

"Blaine," Kurt sat down on the end of the bed, avoiding sitting on any sheet music as he knew Rachel would get mad at him if he ruined any of the 3000 sheets she had collected over the years.

"What about him? I guess he finally asked you to fly to Ohio with him?" 

"Yes, yes he did. Don't you think it's crazy though, we don't even know each other." 

"It might be crazy, but he's offering you a free plane ticket to Ohio. I'd take it if I were you. Besides, he's not that bad, he's the sweetest guy I've met, too bad he doesn't play for my team," she said dreamily. Kurt rolled his eyes. 

"So you think I should just do it?" 

"Yes, in fact I do, you'd be stupid to decline such an opportunity." 

"You sound like you're talking about a role in a musical." 

"Well, meeting his parents would involve acting I presume. I don't think you'd have a doubt if you were head over heels for the guy already. So I think you should look at this as an opportunity to improve your acting," Rachel said matter-of-factly. She shrugged and went back to her sheet music, showing Kurt that they had reached the end of the discussion. 

"I'm not sure," Kurt muttered, before getting up from the bed and leaving the room. He considered calling his dad for advice, but he already knew his dad wouldn't approve. He'd love to see his son, but lying to someone else was not something Burt approved of. 

-

During dinner that night, Kurt was unusually quiet. Sure, Rachel talked a lot as she always did, but normally Kurt would throw in some comments, trying to be heard as well. Kurt was just too in his mind to also deal with what his friend was saying. He just hoped Santana wouldn’t notice because he preferred not to talk with her about the Blaine-situation as he had been calling it in his head. 

Kurt wasn’t in much luck, when he had retreated to his room, he soon heard a knock on his door. Before calling for the person to open it, he knew he’d be faced with Santana. He didn’t know how to explain the situation to her, but maybe her advice would be useful, so he decided to tell her to the best of his ability. 

“So, Hummel, you were awfully quiet during dinner. Spill,” Santana said. Kurt rolled his eyes in response, before opening his mouth and closing it again like a fish out of water. 

“C’mon, just spit it out, I won’t judge you,” Santana said, moving to Kurt’s desk to pull out the chair and sitting down.

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Santana just shrugged and raised her eyebrows before smirking at Kurt. 

“Okay, so this guy at NYADA offered to take me to Ohio, but in exchange I have to fake date him.” 

“Is that all? You’re acting like it’s the end of the world, this is peanuts. Have you started packing already?” 

Kurt stared at Santana angrily. “No, no I haven’t, it’s not morally right to lie to someone’s parents.”

“As if you never lied to good old Mr Hummel, you hypocrite,” Santana replied. It had Kurt thinking, there was definitely truth to Santana’s words. 

“Okay, maybe you’re right, but I don’t know him and he only asked me because his homophobic parents finally cave in and his boyfriend broke up with him.” 

“Then you invite him for coffee, get to know him first. It’s as simple as that.”

“You might actually be onto something, thank you Santana!”

“No need to thank me, just remember that auntie Snixx is here to fix your problems,” she said with a smile. She got up again to leave the room, before closing the door behind her she said: “maybe you won’t even have to fake-date him in the end.” 

“What did you say?” Kurt screamed after her, getting up off the bed to chase his friend. Santana shrieked and made sure to hide behind the christmas tree once she saw Kurt taking one of the pillows from the couch. 

“You can’t hide there forever,” Kurt said, smirking at his friend. 

The noise had drawn Rachel out of her room as well, once she saw what her friends were up to, she grabbed a pillow as well. She hit Kurt in the head so that Santana could free herself from behind the christmas tree. 

“Rachel Barbra Berry, why’d you have to get here as well?” Kurt screamed, trying to hit Rachel back. Rachel had good reflexes though, so she wasn’t really in trouble. 

Santana quickly grabbed a pillow before Kurt could turn around to hit her. Once she was safely hidden behind a pillow and ready to attack Kurt with it, she yelled a thanks to Rachel. Rachel was taken off guard by it, which gave Kurt the perfect opportunity to hit her. Santana quickly attacked Kurt from behind. 

When Rachel accidentally knocked an ornament out of the christmas tree, the three stopped their fight. Kurt rushed over to make sure it wasn’t one of his mother’s ornaments. “Thank goodness it’s one of those old ugly ones Mr. Schue gifted us one Christmas.” 

“Do we have more?” Santana asked with a twinkle in her eyes. 

“Yes, but no, Santana we’re not all smashing them,” Kurt said, positioning himself in front of the tree. 

“C’mon don’t spoil it. Rachel got to knock one out, so now I want to break one as well,” Santana said. She had put the pillow down on the couch again as she approached Kurt. She was clearly looking for another one of the ugly ornaments. 

“Just let her break one, Kurt. They’re ugly anyway,” Rachel helped her friend. Kurt sighed, but moved out of the way, grabbing one of the ugly ornaments and smashing it on the floor next to Rachel’s. The last one still in the tree was captured by Santana, who laid it on the floor and attacked it with a candle that had been on the coffee table. 

“You’re gonna have to clean it up though, Santana,” Kurt said, already leaving to go back to his room, careful not to step in any of the shards. 

In his room, Kurt laid down on his bed, thinking about what he should text Blaine. He didn’t want to be too forward, but he also didn’t want to sound too distant. It was difficult, maybe he should just sleep about it. However, he didn’t want to bump into the guy at school the following day without having said anything, although Blaine seemed to be okay with the situation. 

Hi Blaine, Kurt here. I was thinking maybe we could go for coffee tomorrow, I’d like to get to know you a bit before deciding. I hope you don’t mind. 

Blaine quickly replied. 

Hi Kurt, that’s quick! No problem, I actually think it’s a good idea! I wouldn’t want to bring anyone home whom I don’t get along with. Smart thinking! --- Blaine

Hehe, when do you have time to meet? Kurt

Maybe we could do tomorrow? During lunch orso? --- Blaine 

Yes, that’d be fine. See you tomorrow :) Kurt

Kurt had a smile on his face once he put his cellphone down, it had gone better than he expected. 

Kurt was about to fall asleep when Santana stormed into his room. “Did you text that guy already?” 

“Yes, we’re going for coffee tomorrow,” Kurt replied, stifling a yawn. “Did you clean up the ornaments?” 

“Sure did, but you’re on cleaning duty for the rest of the week!” She replied. Kurt sighed, but didn’t say anything, he had expected something like that already. 

“So, do you already know what you’re gonna wear to your date tomorrow?” Santana asked, smiling at Kurt. 

“Wait, what?” 

“You’re gonna have coffee tomorrow, isn’t it a date then?” 

“No? We’re just getting to know each other?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you do on a date?” 

“Shit, you might be right. Oh no, what did I do?”

“Relax Hummel, it’ll be alright. Just wear something that makes your ass pop,” she smirked. She got off the bed and walked towards the door. She looked like a lady whose evil plan had just been set into motion. 

-

The following morning, Kurt was panicking. He had woken up in time, but now he was running out of time. He had made sure his hair looked perfect, his teeth were brushed and he had had a good breakfast. However, he couldn’t settle on an outfit. He kept going over what he had worn the day before and how that outfit had not been flawless, so this one had to be. It couldn’t be wrinkled, like the last couple of shirts he had pulled out of his closet. 

In the end, Kurt picked black skin tight jeans, a festive red button up and a cream coloured half jumper on top of it. He thought he looked cute and weather appropriate. When he stepped out of his room, Santana had laughed, but she was quickly shushed by Rachel, who had also been filled in during breakfast. 

“You look wonderful Kurt!” Rachel said, before going over to Kurt, pushing his lunch box and bag in his hands. “Now go, you don’t want to be late for your first class!” 

Kurt rolled his eyes, shrugged his coat on and made it out of the apartment. He was just in time for the metro that would take him to NYADA. 

-

The entire time up until lunch Kurt had been jittery. Some of his classmates had even commented on it. He was unsure why he felt so nervous to meet up with Blaine again. Sure, the prospect of having to answer Blaine was nerve-wracking, but it shouldn’t have the effect on him that it did. Blaine had seemed sincere, he knew he had a weird proposition. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Kurt said no to him, Blaine fully well knew that the possibility that Kurt would was quite high. No matter how often Kurt told himself that, he couldn’t stop the jittery feeling deep inside of him. 

Kurt was glad once he was let off for his lunch break. In an hour everything would be over, he would be ready to make a decision, or so he hoped. He nervously slid into one of the booths in the canteen of the school. He hadn’t spotted Blaine yet. That wasn’t very surprising as Kurt had had his class practically next to the canteen and he had rushed out of the room. He would not be late to this meeting. 

From the otherside of the canteen he could see Rachel, which made him sigh. He did not need onlookers for his non-date with Blaine. Kurt was sure that Santana had put her up to this. He started rummaging through his bag to find his cellphone, he would tell his friend off. However, he was interrupted by Blaine before he could find his phone. 

“Hi,” he said breathlessly, looking up at Blaine. He looked good, his curls a little looser than the last time they had met. He was wearing a checkered shirt in a soft yellow and brown, a maroon cardigan on top of it, styled with a bow tie in the same colour scheme. Kurt nodded approvingly. 

“Hey,” Blaine smiled back, before sliding into the boot opposite of Kurt. “Do you want to get out of here?” 

“Yes, yes, I’d like that,” Kurt smiled. He slung his messenger bag over his shoulder to get out of there. He quickly waved to Rachel, as did Blaine. 

“So, do you have a favourite place to get coffee? Any preferences?” Blaine asked once the pair was out of the university building. 

“I’m fine with whatever,” Kurt said, following Blaine across the street as the lights had just turned green. 

“Let’s take a right here then, I know a nice place,” Blaine said, clasping Kurt’s wrist in his hand to pull him in the right direction. He almost seemed afraid he’d lose Kurt in the crowd, although the sidewalk was not that crowded. “Sorry,” he muttered before releasing Kurt’s wrist. Kurt traced his fingers over where Blaine’s had just been and smiled at the boy. 

Kurt almost walked into another New Yorker who was probably rushing to get to their meeting on time. He profusely excused himself, although the stranger didn’t want to hear it, as they were way too busy. Blaine silently laughed at the situation in front of him, earning him an annoyed glance from Kurt. 

“Of to a good start, hm? Already laughing at me, you better be careful Anderson. I can still decline your offer,” Kurt teased. Blaine quickly stopped laughing and his face actually fell because of Kurt’s threat. 

“I- erm- I know, I’m sorry,” Blaine apologised. He wrapped his arms around himself as if to protect himself from the dark world around him. 

“None of that,” Kurt replied, giving Blaine a small smile. Blaine’s arms loosened, but he did not seem relaxed at all. “Let’s just get to the coffee place you know, it’s proper cold now. I’m freezing.” 

Blaine nodded, walking a little faster. Kurt matched his pace, although it was still a little slow for Kurt. He preferred to walk a little faster, but he understood the smaller boy was probably walking as fast as he could. 

Soon, they arrived at a nice coffee shop. It wasn’t too busy and the boys claimed a table in front of the window, something which Kurt was thankful for. They could always resort to people watching if it turned out they had nothing in common. It was highly unlikely that’d be the case as they were both dedicating their lives to Broadway. 

“What would you like?” Blaine asked, motioning over to the counter. Kurt frowned shortly, this wasn’t supposed to be a date, so he didn’t want Blaine to pay for his drink. 

“A non-fat mocha, please,” he said, and Kurt’s frown slowly turned into a smile.

“I’ll be right back.” Kurt nodded in Blaine’s direction and then turned so that his eyes were facing the street. He noticed how hardly anyone looked fashionable in the cold. Most people resembled something like a Michelin doll more often than not. 

“Hi, what are you doing?” Kurt had zoned out and was surprised by Blaine’s voice.

“Oh, erm, nothing, I was just watching people.”

“Okay, you seemed to be lost in thought, I hope everything is alright,” Blaine said politely. It earned him one of those smiles from Kurt again. It seemed as if all they did was smiling at each other. 

Blaine slipped into the chair next to Kurt’s, focusing his eyes on the street as well. 

“What did you get?” Kurt asked, nodding to Blaine’s cup.

“Oh, my usual, a medium drip, I know it’s boring.” 

“What else did you get?” Kurt trained his eyes on the little bag Blaine had placed on the table next to their coffee cups. 

“A gingerbread person, I hope you won’t mind splitting it,” Blaine replied, a blush rose on his cheeks. He looked absolutely adorable. 

“A gingerbread person? Since when do they call it gingerbread persons?” Kurt questioned. 

Blaine chuckled and shrugged, “I don’t know, but that’s what the card said.” 

“It sounds stupid, what’s wrong with a gingerbread man?” 

“I don’t know, but I think we should get to know each other a bit. That’s like the reason for this meeting, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sure. So tell me a bit about your family. I don’t think I’ll like them very much, but I’ll need to know what this entire proposition entails.” 

Kurt watched Blaine go stiff, his face fell and he straightened his back “Well, they’re not my favourite people, but you know it’s family.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“Yes, I do. I have an older brother, his name is Cooper. He is like 9 years older than I am, so we never really clicked. He does accept my sexuality though, so he’s not the worst to be around. Apart from his larger than life ego, but sometimes it’s easier that way.” 

The way Blaine talked about his family made him sad. He was sure it was showing on his face as well. He remembered how scared he was when he came out to his dad, but luckily Burt was a champ about it. He couldn’t imagine what his life would’ve been like without his father’s support. 

“I’m so sorry,” Kurt said, it was the only thing he could think about. 

“Don’t be, you didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“It’s just so unfair that your family won’t accept you for who you are. You seem like a wonderful guy,” Kurt smiled. 

“Thank you. I learnt to live with it though.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“No, but it’s my reality, so I had to deal with it. It’s better now though.”

“If it’s okay, could you tell me about when you came out?” Kurt hesitantly asked. Blaine nodded, before opening his mouth to speak. 

“I was fourteen when I came out to them, my father thought he could straighten me up. He had me fix cars and such. He wanted to get rid of my baby piano as well. My mother just ignored it, every once in awhile she would ask me when I’d be bringing someone home.” 

“Have you? Brought someone home?” 

“No, Sebastian was supposed to be the first one,” Blaine said, blinking away the tears in his eyes. Kurt had noticed how emotional the boy next to him had become and quickly placed a hand on his back to offer his comfort. It seemed to have a positive effect on Blaine, so he carefully wrapped the boy up in a hug. 

“Shh, it’s alright, I’ll help you,” Kurt tried to shush him. 

Blaine looked up at him, pushing Kurt’s body backwards. “You really don’t have to and I’m sorry for dumping my shit on you. You must have better things to do. I’m sorry for bothering you.” 

Kurt didn’t say anything, he just brought Blaine to his chest again. He had made his decision, he would do everything in his power to make sure that Blaine had a nice time during the holidays. When Blaine seemed to have calmed down again, Kurt released him. 

“I have one condition,” Kurt stated. 

“Sure, anything.”

“We spend either Christmas Eve or the evening of Christmas Day at my dad’s.” 

Blaine looked surprised, but quickly agreed. This was better than he had expected. He found it a bit weird that Kurt wanted to take him to his father’s house, but it would be nice not to be at home and he would be able to excuse himself as well. 

“I want to be honest with my dad though.”

“What do you mean?” The panic lingered in Blaine’s voice. 

“I mean I want to introduce you to him as a friend. Don’t worry, what we just talked about is safe with me,” Kurt tried a reassuring smile at the other boy, which seemed to make him relax a bit. Blaine nodded and Kurt let out a sigh of relief. 

After the emotional moment the boys shared, they decided that it was enough for the day. They had connected with each other, both could feel it, although they didn't get to know each other that much. Kurt had a better understanding of why Blaine would ask him to fake date him for the meeting with his parents, but that was it. Kurt didn't think they had wasted time though, he really valued their conversation. 

Once they were in front of the NYADA building, Blaine thanked Kurt again. Kurt sensed it wasn't only for agreeing to fake date Blaine. 

"No, thank you," Kurt answered Blaine, who looked surprised, but didn't question it. 

"I'll see you around," Blaine was about to leave for his next class as lunch period was nearing an end. 

"Wait, would you like to do this again tomorrow?" Kurt caught Blaine's arm before he could walk off. Blaine stopped in his tracks, looked Kurt into the eyes and answered his question with a smile. 

"Text me the details please." 

-

When Kurt got home that evening, Santana looked at him expectantly. Her Mexican third eye must have sensed that something had happened between Blaine and him. 

"What?" Kurt asked, cocking his eyebrow. He had told Blaine he'd keep their conversation between the two of them only and he wasn't about to let Santana ruin that. He knew she would be able to pry it out of him, but he was determined to keep his promise. 

"Nothing, just wondering how your date went. You seem happy, so I assume it went well." 

Kurt frowned, "it wasn't a date." 

"Whatever you say Hummel," she said knowingly. "I know you agreed to fly to Ohio with him." 

"I did, end of discussion." 

"I didn't think you'd have it in you," Santana smirked. Kurt rolled his eyes and left the living room, showing Santana he was serious about not discussing it any further. 

Kurt wanted to call his dad to let him know he had found a way for them to be together during Christmas. In the end he decided against it, he wanted to surprise his father. He would just have to make sure that he wouldn't blow his cover. 

He looked forward to another meeting with Blaine. He had felt the connection between the two of them, although he could not explain it. He just felt like he needed to help the guy and that he had to make him happy. Never before had he been so certain of something in his life. 

-

During dinner, Kurt tried his best to participate in the conversation, but he wasn't completely present. 

"Hummel, tell us about your date with what's his name?" 

"Blaine," Rachel answered before Kurt could open his mouth. 

"I'd rather not talk about it," Kurt said. He knew the likelihood of him spilling under the forceful eyes of friends was there. 

"C'mon, we wanna know about it! Especially since you said yes," Santana pried. 

"You did?" Rachel seemed genuinely surprised by it. 

"Yes, I did. It seemed like the right thing to do and I really want to be with my family during the holidays," Kurt reasoned. 

"Sure, that's all," Santana's sharp comment sounded. Rachel shoved her friend, which Santana reciprocated. 

"Yes, that's all. I'm not talking about this, can't anything ever be private?" 

"We're friends, we're roommates, I feel like nothing stays private. That's just how it works." 

"No Santana, that's not how it works. You don't have to know every single detail of my life. You should just keep to yourself when I ask you to," Kurt snapped. He shoved his chair back and rushed out of the dining room into his own room, locking the door to make sure his friends wouldn't come barging in.

Kurt grabbed his phone and angrily sent Blaine a message. 

Why are roommates so annoying? - K

Not even a minute later Kurt's cellphone buzzed with a new message. When he saw it was Blaine's, he smiled to himself. 

Tell me about it. - - - Blaine

They keep bugging me about our meeting and I don't want them to know what we talked about. - K

It's fine, you can tell them about it. It's not too secret orso. We're not gonna go on a FBI mission or something Kurt. - - - Blaine

Kurt chuckled. Blaine had a sense of humour, and so he became more sure of his decision with each passing second. 

I promised you to keep this between us, so I'm not spilling to them. Also, you really got to stop ending with your entire name - K

I will K. If that'd make you happier :) - B

Much better - K

Messaging with Blaine had calmed him down. He felt the rage dissipate, it was as if Blaine was a miracle worker. 

Can I ask you something? - B

Of course B, always. - K

Is tomorrow a date? - B

Kurt was kind of shocked by Blaine's question. Sure, Santana had jokingly called their meeting earlier in the day a date, but they were just getting to know each other. They were going to fake date, not actually date one another. Kurt wasn't even ready to date anyone, he had just found his own two feet. He was just starting to trust himself that he knew who he was, he wasn't ready to do that with someone else yet. He'd first have to be sure of himself before jumping into a relationship with someone. 

What? No? We're just preparing for our little project. Why'd you think that? - K

It's just that my roommate said it sounded an awful lot like a date when I explained it to him. I'm glad we're on the same page though, I was weirded out about his comment as well. - B

No worries, see you tomorrow, sleep tight :) - K

You too x B 

Kurt did a double take at the screen, making sure Blaine had indeed closed his text with a kiss. And yes, yes he definitely had. The pair would have a lot to talk about during their meeting the following day. Kurt was thinking about rules they'd have to set up to make sure this wouldn't end badly and he was curious to learn more about Blaine's roommate as well. 

-

Kurt refrained from telling his friends about meeting up with Blaine again. He knew they'd make comments he didn't want to hear. He had texted Blaine to meet him outside the NYADA building so that they could hold their meeting in secret. Blaine had agreed, he hadn't asked questions, something Kurt was eternally grateful for. 

"Hi," Kurt smiled the moment he exited the building and saw the smaller boy waiting for him. 

"Do you wanna go to the same place as yesterday?" Blaine asked, opening his arms for a quick hug. Kurt gladly reciprocated, but looked around as if to check if no one had seen them. 

"Something wrong?" Blaine noticed Kurt glancing around him

"No, all is good, I was just looking around to see if Rachel was near." 

"No, she went to the canteen. We had a class before and I turned down her proposal of having lunch together," Blaine smiled reassuringly. Although it had the opposite effect on Kurt. 

"Did I say anything wrong?" 

"No, no, it's just that I didn't tell her and my other roommate Santana about us meeting up again." 

"Why not? If you don't want to do this, we don't have to. You don't have to come back to Ohio with me. I only want to do this if you're sure you're comfortable," Blaine rambled. 

Kurt shook his head. He wasn't doing well so far, he was supposed to ensure Blaine's happiness, not make him feel ashamed. "Calm down Blaine, I gave you my word. I'm coming with you, I want to help. It's just the thing we talked about yesterday, well your roommate wasn't the only one." 

"You mean the girls thought we went on a date as well?" Blaine looked very surprised saying it out loud. Sure, the thought had crossed his mind, but like Kurt he hadn't seen their meeting as a date. 

"Uhm, yes?" Kurt's cheeks were burning red now and it wasn't just because of the cold. Blaine chuckled in response. 

As they walked into the coffee shop, Kurt noticed the same table they had sat on the previous day was free. He pushed Blaine in that direction before stepping into the queue himself. He assumed Blaine would want the same as he had the day before, he had said it was his usual after all. Alongside the coffees Kurt ordered festive glazed sugar cookies. 

"Here you go," he handed Blaine his coffee, before sliding into the seat next to Blaine. 

"Thank you," Blaine smiled thankfully. He had been staring at the people passing on the street, but now he fixed his eyes on Kurt. 

"So," Kurt stammered, "tell me about your roommate?" 

Blaine's face lit up once Kurt asked him about his friend. "His name's Sam. He actually moved here together with me, he's doing some modelling before deciding what he wants to study." 

"So that's why you have to go around and invite strangers over to Christmas Dinner with your parents." 

"Sorry?" 

"Oh shit, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud," Kurt's cheeks were crimson red after realising he had just judged Blaine like that.

"It's okay," Blaine said, he nudged Kurt's shoulder, so that he'd look up again. Kurt avoided looking Blaine in the eyes. 

"Tell me about your roommates? Or at least the one that isn't Rachel, I think I know Rachel fairly well." 

"Maybe it's better not to tell you about Santana," Kurt joked. "I'm not sure you'll ever meet, so what's the point?" 

"The point is that we're trying to get to know each other. That's what you told me at least and I thought it was a good idea." 

"You're right, it was Santana who actually told me to ask you to meet for coffee." 

"Did she? Well, tell her thanks from me." 

"Don't give her too much credit, she'd never let it go again." 

"What does she do? She doesn't go to NYADA, does she?" 

"No, she works at a diner and does some shifts at a bar I believe. She job hops too often to actually keep up, but she's been at the diner for a while. She actually got me and Rachel a job there as well," Kurt explained. 

"She works at the Spotlight diner as well? I think she was there last time I went. Or does Rachel have any other close friends work there as well?" 

"No, it's just the three of us that are close." 

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Blaine teased. 

"You're right. Rachel, Santana and I were all in Glee club together in high school. Rachel and I both decided to chase our Broadway dreams and applied to NYADA. Santana first started college in the South somewhere, but when she dropped out, she moved here as well."

“That’s like me and Sam, we were in Glee club together as well,” Blaine smiled, probably recalling the times he and his friend were still in High School. 

“What Glee club were you in? Did you guys compete?” Kurt asked, conversation flowed easily now that they had found a light subject. 

“I was a Warbler, or I am a Warbler. Once a Warbler always a Warbler they say,” Blaine said smugly. Happiness looked good on him, Kurt thought to himself. He felt like this was the most pure Blaine he had seen so far and he really liked it. 

“We were in the New Directions.”

“Wait, we competed against them. How can I not remember you?” 

“I remember competing against the Warblers I guess. All guys and in blazers, right?” 

“That’s us, but that still doesn’t answer my question,” Blaine frowned. 

“I just wasn’t that impressive,” Kurt shrugged. The smile that had been present on his face had fallen again. 

“Don’t put yourself down like that. You made it into NYADA, I’m sure you’re very talented,” Blaine reached out for Kurt’s hand and brushed his fingers against Kurt’s. Kurt pulled his hand away, kind of shocked at the sudden touch. 

“Our show choir director didn’t seem to agree with that, Rachel always got the solo’s. I did get in, you’re right. I still don’t understand how.” 

“Stop that now, would you. I might’ve never heard you sing, but I’m sure you are very talented. I can tell that you are special,” Blaine’s words had elicited a blush on Kurt’s cheeks. Kurt was warm all over, he wasn’t supposed to feel this way. Blaine wasn’t supposed to have this effect on him. 

“Thank you,” he mouthed. It was barely audible, but Blaine still caught it. He reached out for Kurt’s hand again, this time it stayed in place and Kurt let himself be touched. 

“Blaine,” Kurt cleared his throat, “Blaine, I really think we should set up some rules for this thing. I don’t want this to get out of hand. Like sure, you’re nice and I’d like to be your friend after this, but I think we have a lot to talk about before we really commit to this.” 

Blaine straightened up and placed his hands in his lap. He glanced outside, then continued the conversation. “You’re right. What do you propose?” 

“For starters I think I should know about the backstory of you and your ex, if it isn’t too painful. You don’t have to tell me right now, but I do need some time to prepare,” Kurt rambled on. 

“Hey, it’s okay, I can tell you about it.” 

“Are you sure? Just yesterday you broke down in tears because of it?” 

“Yes, I knew this question would come. I can’t say it doesn’t still hurt, but I knew you’d ask. I’ll try to answer, just be patient please.”

Kurt glanced at his phone, noticing that they didn’t have a lot of time left anymore. He contemplated to ignore the time in favour of hearing Blaine’s story, but he couldn’t skip class. It would be highly unprofessional and Miss July would absolutely kill him. 

“I’m sorry Blaine, but I only have 15 minutes until my next class starts. I have dance with Miss July and I can’t afford to be late, I’ll never live that down.” 

“It’s okay, I understand. I have class as well, so I guess we’ll have to head back.” The other boy nodded at him and they both got up and exited the coffee shop. 

During the walk back to the NYADA building, they were both quiet. There was too much to think about. However, once they reached the building, it was Blaine who reached out for Kurt this time. 

“I agree with what you said, we need to draw up some kind of contract. I’d love to be your friend after this. You’ve been way too kind already and I don’t want to jeopardise our friendship. Let’s both make a draft and compare them when we meet up again, okay?” 

“Yes,” Kurt nodded. He wanted to ask when they’d be meeting again, but he kept himself from it. He felt like he had been too forward the other day. He didn’t want to seem too eager to be friends with Blaine. He knew he was drawn to Blaine, but he still had to figure out in what way. He also knew he hadn’t seen the last of Blaine yet, he’d have to be able to fake date his friend. He shouldn’t be catching feelings, he sure wasn’t catching feelings. He just wanted to make sure that Blaine was happy. 

“I’ll text you later,” Blaine said and then he walked away to his next class. Kurt still stood outside the building watching Blaine leave. He shook his head and was hit with reality again, he had a class to get to. After checking his phone, he noticed he only had 5 minutes left and he would also have to change into his dance clothes, so he rushed into the building. 

-

“So Hummel, where were you during lunch break?” Santana asked when she pulled her chair out to sit down for dinner. 

Kurt frowned. “Why would you care? Besides, you don’t even go to my school, how do you know I wasn’t there?” 

“Because,” Santana said, shrugging. She looked at Kurt as if he were stupid. “Did you go on another date with what’s his name?” 

“Blaine and no, I didn’t?” 

“You are turning into a tomato right now, so you’re not very convincing you know?” 

“Yes, I was with Blaine and no, it wasn’t a date okay.” 

“But you wouldn’t mind if it was, would you?” Santana said, as if looking right through Kurt. 

“I would? That’s just weird. We’re just getting to know each other. He will be taking me home and I just want things to go as smoothly as possible. It’s worse enough he has to resort to this, I thought you out of everyone would understand,” Kurt ranted. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Santana sneared. 

“Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Kurt angrily said. Santana had stopped eating and looked ready to throw daggers at Kurt, he wasn’t fazed. 

“Well, you have some explaining to do Hummel.” 

“Okay, maybe I should. It’s just I promised him I wouldn’t.” 

“You know I wouldn’t snitch on you,” Santana schooled him. 

“No, but you could perform one of those schemes you’re so fond of and I’d prefer if you didn’t.” 

“Well, it’s not for you to decide whether I think you’re being stupid or not,” Santana said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, so long story short. He asked me to fake date him because his parents are homophobic pricks and he finally got them to fly him and his boyfriend out. However, that prick broke up with him,” Kurt finished. 

“So, because I have homophobic family members as well, I should understand why he would fake date you. I should also understand why you’ve been on two dates already, yet you say you’re only ‘fake’ dating,” she said, making quotation marks in the air. 

“No?” Kurt sighed in frustration. When would Santana understand that he and Blaine would never date for real. “Blaine and I are not dating, nor will we. If we’re lucky, we get a friendship out of this, but I honestly don’t expect much.”

“Would you want to though? I mean, it’s been forever since you went on an actual date. I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve also seen the way you acted the past couple of days and you can’t deny that you’ve been happier.” 

“I’m happier because I get to surprise my dad,” Kurt defended himself. 

“You haven’t even called your dad yet?” 

“No, I’m surprising him. Blaine and I will visit him.” 

“You should just hear yourself speak, Hummel. Sure you’re not dating that guy.” 

“What, Blaine deserves to have a nice time and I bet he won’t be having that when I leave him alone with a couple of homophobes who’ve tried to take his happiness away.” 

“We’ll continue this talk once you can admit that you have feelings for him,” Santana rolled her eyes and shoved a forkful of food into her mouth. 

“I am not in love with Blaine. He’s just a nice guy I’m doing a favour, in turn he’s doing me one. That’s all. Why can’t you accept that? Maybe invest some time in your own love life instead of trying to force one on me.” 

“Sure.” 

-

That night Kurt spent thinking about Blaine. He was hoping to receive a text from the other boy, but nothing seemed to be happening. He also spent a lot of time thinking about the rules he’d want to be in place for their arrangement. How far could they go? They had kind of held hands already. That wasn’t such a big deal. Besides, friends held hands as well, he’d walked the streets holding Rachel’s hands often enough, nothing wrong with that. They could stage a kiss, sure, but he wasn’t sure how Blaine’s parents would react to that. Maybe it wouldn’t even come to that. Maybe all they’d do was sit closely together on the couch and hold hands under the dinner table, minor things like that. He didn’t know how he was supposed to act. He was kind of driving himself crazy. Kurt came to the conclusion he would just leave it all up to Blaine, but his thoughts weren’t sure of that idea either.

Finally, he fell asleep. Still no conclusion to the dilemma doing circles in his mind. He desperately wanted to give Blaine the lead, but he also felt uncomfortable with that. He didn’t know why, he just knew he did. 

He dreamt of Blaine that night. They were visiting Blaine’s parents and they were worse than Kurt expected. Way worse. Blaine’s mother kept acting as if Kurt was just a friend, which in fact he was, but that his mother didn't know. She even asked Blaine when he'd be bringing home a girl. Blaine's brother kept referring to Kurt as fairy, which got Blaine so mad the brothers almost ended up in a fight(so much for not being homophobic hm?). And Blaine's father. He was the worst. He ignored Kurt. He acted as if he did not exist. He did not ask Kurt a single thing. When Blaine referred to Kurt, his father started a conversation about something else. Kurt had never felt as miserable as he did that night. When they tried to leave to get to the warmth and safety of Kurt's childhood home, they couldn't. The roads were blocked because it had snowed too much. They were stuck in the hell hole that Blaine's childhood home had become. 

Kurt woke up sweating profusely. He was convinced he had made the wrong decision. His dreams were telling him he shouldn't go to Ohio with Blaine. Not even the prospect of seeing his father could help. 

He checked his phone to see the time and saw he had a message from Blaine as well. It had been sent 10 minutes earlier. 

Hey, I know this is weird, but are you awake? x B

There is was again. Blaine had sent him another x. Was that something he did with all his friends? It just added to the pile of unexplainable Blaine things. 

I actually just woke up from a very strange dream 

Kurt texted Blaine back. Not sure if he wanted the other boy to still be awake or not. His brain to mouth, or text in this case, wasn't the best at 3 AM. 

Tell me about it? x B

Can you stop that? 

Can I stop what? x B

The kisses at the end? 

You mean the x? That's just how I always end my texts, but if it really bothers you, sure. I'll just have to make sure my family won't see this. 

Okay, fine, you convinced me. Why are you awake? 

I just wasn't able to sleep. Too much to think about. 

Tell me about it. 

No, you tell me about your dream first. 

I don't want to. It's silly anyway. 

It's not silly if it keeps you up. You can tell me if it makes you feel better. I could call you. 

Before Kurt could reply to Blaine's text, his caller ID showed up. Kurt didn't know whether he should answer or not. He didn't want to wake his roommates. 

In a split second, probably just before the call got declined, Kurt answered. 

"Hi," he said breathlessly, his voice not strong enough to talk yet. He cleared his throat. 

"Hey," Blaine replied chuckling softly. 

"This is weird."

"Not at all, just a nice 3 AM call between friends, nothing weird with that." 

"So is this a thing you always do, Blaine…," Kurt wanted to say his last name, but then Kurt realised he didn't know Blaine's last name. 

"I think you're looking for Anderson," Blaine filled in. 

"Is it? Do you, Blaine Anderson, always call your friends at 3 AM?" 

"I don't, I've never actually done this before," Blaine admitted. 

"Does that mean I'm special?" 

"Very," Blaine mused, "tell me about your dream." 

"I can't," Kurt said, too ashamed to admit he dreamt about Blaine. He also needed time to think about whether he could still go through with the deal. 

"Why not? Did you have a sex dream about me, Mr Hummel?" 

"God, what? No?" Kurt grimased. Blaine chuckled on the other side of the line. 

"Then you can tell me about it." 

"It was about you though," Kurt said silently. He felt ashamed saying it out loud, but it had happened, so he'd have to deal with the consequences. 

"Oh did you, now I want to know all about it," Blaine teased. "Was it any good?" 

"It was terrible actually," Kurt said. Blaine faked some sniffles, earning a soft laugh from Kurt. 

"What happened? What did I do?" 

"It wasn't you actually. I dreamt about meeting your family. Your mum treated me as your friend and kept asking you when you'd bring home a girl. Your brother kept referring to me as a fairy and you two almost fought. -" 

“How courageous of me to defend your honour," Blaine interrupted. 

"Very, the worst was your father though. He kept ignoring me. He acted as if I wasn't there. Every time you'd bring me up in conversation, he'd talk over you. It was terrible." 

"I'm sorry you had to dream about that." 

"That's very reassuring, you know," Kurt said back. 

"It's just that I can't promise anything, I haven't been home since last Christmas. We don't really talk, so I don't know. I've also never brought someone home, so I don't know how they'd react either. I promise Cooper will be on our side though. He might be thick and way too self-centred, but he's always been on my side."

It broke Kurt's heart to hear Blaine talk about his family like that. No one should have to go through that. He wanted to apologise, but he knew it wouldn't help. 

It stayed silent for a couple of minutes, they could only hear each other breathing. It was uncomfortable for the both of them. 

"You never told me why you're still up," Kurt said, breaking the silence. 

"Dunno. I just kept tossing and turning. Then I got up, plugged my headphones into my keyboard and started to compose a new song, I guess," Blaine answered. It wasn't truthful, or that's what it felt like to Kurt. Blaine was keeping something from him, but he didn't want to pry. 

"As your fake boyfriend I want you to know that you can tell me anything," Kurt sighed. He rolled over to his other side, rustling the sheets. 

"What are you doing? You getting tired of me?" 

"Just turning, didn't feel as comfortable anymore." 

Blaine was saying something, but Kurt couldn't hear it over his roommate, presumably Rachel, banging on the wall. 

"Shit," Kurt muttered. 

"What?" Blaine asked. 

"I think we woke one of the girls," Kurt said, trying to keep his voice quiet. 

"Oh now did we," Blaine said teasingly. 

Kurt laughed, thinking about how Blaine had just implied them waking up his friends in other ways than they just had. Needless to say, Kurt was blushing. 

"Kurt, are you out of your mind?" Rachel hissed as she barged into the room

"I'm trying to sleep. I don't know who you're talking to, but you better be quiet. I need my beauty sleep," she slammed the door shut and left again. 

"I think we should wrap this up," Kurt joked. He elicited a laugh from Blaine. It sounded like music to his ears. 

"Maybe we should before I wake up Sam as well. Not that it's possible with him sleeping like a log." 

"Well, we could text a bit, if you want to." 

"Or I could sing you to sleep?" Blaine offered. The offer made Kurt feel warm inside. It reminded him of the countless times his mom had sang him to sleep. She had always made him feel safe. It wasn't only her brushing hair out of his face, but also the steady, yet melodious voice. 

" Are you sure? Seems like a bit too much to ask from my fake boyfriend." 

"It's fine, I feel like it's the least I could do after that nightmare you suffered." 

"Don't feel guilty about that, I bet it won't be that bad. It's just my imagination going haywire." 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Blaine whispered. 

"We'll figure it out," Kurt assured him. 

"Together?" 

"Together. Now sing for me, will you?" 

"Would it be cheesy if I sang you a Christmas song?" 

Kurt just hummed, Blaine could choose how he'd interpret that. He decided it was fine and soon Kurt's ears filled with Blaine's soft voice. He sang him Christmas song after Christmas song until Kurt fell into a dreamless sleep. 

-

Kurt rolled over in bed again after shutting his alarm off. He was way too tired to get out of bed. He certainly wasn’t ready to have an acting class first thing in the morning. The only thing he could act out at this very moment was sleeping. He cursed himself for checking his phone in the middle of the night. He should not have communicated with Blaine in the middle of the night, first of all because he had no brain to mouth filter and second of all because it had left him exhausted. 

He heard someone rattle on his door, it was followed by someone, Santana, screaming “Hummel!”. 

Kurt growled and dragged his body out of bed. He threw some water in his face, then left his room to have breakfast. He was not ready to face his roommates as he was sure Rachel had told Santana about his midnight phone call. 

“So, what were you up to at approximately 3 AM, Hummel. Berry told me all about it. Did you and loverboy have a nice little chat? I hope you don’t have any laundry to do,” she said, a twinkle in her eyes and a smirk around her lips. 

“I don’t have the energy to talk about this right now,” Kurt closed his eyes to avoid the lingering glances of his friends. 

“Well, I’d love to know who got you giggling in the middle of the night,” Rachel chirped in, energised as ever. 

“I did not giggle,” Kurt said, dumping his bowl with yogurt he’d just retrieved from the fridge on the kitchen table. He sat down behind the bowl, sighed and leaned his head in his hands. 

“Yes, you did,” Santana commented.  
“You weren’t even awake.” 

“Doesn’t matter, I know you giggled, I can just sense it,” she stared Kurt in the eyes. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t let Santana win. He’d never live it down. 

Kurt blinked, losing the staring battle he and Santana had going on. “Ha, I win.” 

“Who were you on the phone with? Was it really Blaine as Santana is suggesting?” Rachel asked, done with the childish games her friends were playing. 

Kurt felt his cheeks getting hot, he was sure they were red by now. 

“Is that why you weren’t at lunch yesterday either? Are you and Blaine dating?” Rachel really seemed excited at the prospect of the two guys together. 

“Geez, Rach. No. Blaine and I aren’t dating. We’ve agreed to do this thing, that’s it. We both happened to be awake and he called me. I’m not even sure why either,” Kurt responded. He hoped his friends would shut up now, he was done with this conversation. It was eating him away and he’d need his energy for other, more important things. 

“You didn’t mind it though,” Santana said teasingly. Kurt just sighed, took his bowl in his hand and left for his room. He’d have breakfast alone, that’d be better than spending another minute with his prying roommates. 

Retracting to his room had another pro, he would be able to eat his yogurt in front of his closet, killing two birds with one stone. He’d just have to be careful not to spill his food on the clothes he picked. 

Kurt succeeded in putting together a nice outfit, getting his quiff the way he liked it and making it to the metro on time. Sure, he was a bit of a mess, but what college student wasn’t. 

-

Christmas break was nearing, Kurt and Blaine still hadn’t talked about how they’d be approaching the fake dating. They hadn’t had time to meet up either. It turned out that Blaine was selected to perform at the Winter Showcase as well. He had to put in a lot of hours of practising and a couple of run throughs with the other people who had been selected as well. In short, Rachel had seen a lot more of Kurt’s fake-boyfriend than he had himself. They exchanged texts on the daily and kept up with each other that way, but there were still conversations they needed to have in person. Kurt still didn’t know the story about Blaine and his ex, something that would be vital to know about for their fake dating to be a success. 

On one of their late night calls, Blaine had asked Kurt to go ice skating. Kurt had agreed reluctantly. He didn’t want Blaine to get injured before his big Winter Showcase performance, nor did he want to get injured himself. He had never set foot, or skated on ice before, so he was sure it wouldn’t end well. Blaine succeeded in convincing him though.

Santana had wished him a lot of fun on their third date. She still couldn’t stop bugging Kurt about Blaine. She was certain the pair were dating or would end up together as more than just fake boyfriends. Kurt still didn’t understand why she thought that. Sure, Blaine was nice and good looking, but they were only friends. 

-

The ice rink in the middle of Central Park, that's where Blaine had taken him. A promise of the story of how Sebastian and he had broken up hung between them. 

"Blaine, I'm not sure this is a good idea," Kurt said, eyeing the people on the ice rink. A guy their age had just taken a particularly hard fall and it had put off Kurt. 

"C'mon, it'll be fun, I promise you," Blaine looked at Kurt, eyes filled with sincerity. 

"I don't know, maybe I should just stay here," he placed his gloved hands on the bench he was sitting on. 

Blaine grinned, bowing down to take one of Kurt's hands off the bench. He pulled lightly on the hand, resulting in getting Kurt off of the bench. 

"Fine," he sighed, "but if I fall and break something, the blame is on you. You hold the sole responsibility and you're paying the hospital bill." 

"I'll make sure you won't fall, silly," Kurt could see the honesty in his eyes, but still wasn't completely convinced. He let Blaine pull him along to the stall where they rented the skates from. 

The vendor asked them for their shoe size before handing over two pairs of skates. Kurt looked apprehensive, he wasn't very fond of the idea of wearing skates a couple hundred people had worn before him. 

He heard Blaine chuckle next to him. "Just put them on and don't think about it."

He wrinkled his nose another time, but still exchanged his shoes for the skates. He was wobbly like a baby deer walking for the first time in the skates. 

Blaine offered him his hands as he confidently strutted to the ice. Kurt clasped it, holding onto it as if his life depended on it. 

"Are you okay for a second? I need both hands to keep my balance when I step on the ice," Blaine explained. Kurt nodded in reply, looking intently at Blaine when he clumsily stepped onto the ice. 

"How am I ever gonna do that?" Kurt questioned himself aloud. Blaine had turned around to face Kurt, smiling encouragingly at him. "You can do it, just don't think about it.  
It's not that bad." 

Kurt tried not to think about it as he shuffled closer to the ice. He placed his left foot on the ice, still keeping his weight on his other foot. When he put a little pressure on the other leg, he could feel the skate slide underneath him. He quickly took the weight of his leg again. 

"Try to hold onto the boarding, then place your skate sideways, it's easier like that," Blaine offered. Skating a little closer to the boarding, so that he'd be there to catch Kurt in case he'd fall. 

Kurt followed Blaine's advice and actually got himself on the ice. He carefully moved his feet and slid across the ice. He still held on to the boarding to make sure he wouldn't take a tumble. Being on the ice was actually quite exciting, he found out. 

"Let go of the boarding now, let's take a lap," Blaine said. He had patiently been skating next to Kurt, although it involved standing still more often than not because Kurt still went very slowly. 

"Are you crazy? I'll fall," Kurt exclaimed. He tightly gripped the boarding to prove his point to Blaine. Blaine shook his head, stopped in front of Kurt and pried his hands off of the boarding. 

"Just grab my arm and we'll go for a lap, okay?" 

Kurt shook his head, but still did as Blaine told him. 

"A little more pressure on your skates," Blaine commented, he could see that Kurt wasn't actually that bad. He was just scared to fall, that was the biggest problem. 

Blaine moved his arm so that Kurt couldn't hold on anymore. He showed Kurt once again that skating wasn't that hard. Kurt shook his head at Blaine showing off, but he kind of appreciated it as well. He tried to imitate his friend and surely, he was getting better at this whole skating thing. 

After doing a few laps on his own, Blaine grasped Kurt again. "It isn't that bad, now, is it?" 

"Actually, it isn't. You were right," Kurt admitted. "It sucks you're always off on your own though." 

"You're just jealous you can't skate as fast as I can," Blaine teased. Kurt rolled his eyes and looked around at all the couples skating together. 

"You wanna give that a try?" Blaine asked once he noticed Kurt's eyes had lingered on a couple who had been skating while holding hands. They both looked like decent skaters though, so he was afraid it required skills he didn't have. 

Before Kurt could answer, Blaine had already grabbed his gloved hand. He pulled him along to the outer circle of the rink. 

It felt nice to hold hands with Blaine. It felt secure. He even felt free in that moment, the winter wind through his carefully styled hair. He was supposed to be cold, but with the heat radiating from Blaine it felt like it was impossible to ever be cold again. 

Kurt had been deep in thought and hadn't seen the small boy crossing their path. Blaine quickly took a turn to avoid skating into the kid, but Kurt wasn't skilled enough to do that once he noticed the boy. The two collided and both fell to the floor. 

The boy started crying and Kurt didn't feel too well either. Blaine kneeled. He looked at the little boy with concern, before sparing Kurt a glance. 

"Hey, kiddo, are you alright?" Blaine asked. He'd helped the boy up again. He was still crying, but nothing too serious seemed to be wrong with him. He was probably shaken up at most. 

"Does anything hurt?" The boy shook his head at Blaine. He was looking around him, probably to find one of his parents. Once a lady approached them, Blaine looked over to Kurt again.

"You alright?" Kurt shrugged. 

"I suppose, I don't feel anything alarming right now." 

"You should try to get up," Blaine stated. A couple of people had thrown angry glances their way because they were still on the ice. 

Kurt tried to get up, but fell on his bum again. "Try to get on your knees, it's easier that way," Blaine encouraged while he watched the scene in front of him. 

Kurt sighed, he didn't want to ruin his trousers more than they already were. He still shifted to his knees and actually managed to get up again. 

"I think I'm gonna sit down," Kurt said, pointing over his shoulder to the benches they'd say on before. "You can enjoy another few laps, don't let me wait too long, though." 

Blaine nodded. "Okay, careful Bambi. Don't want you to fall again." 

It earned him a chuckle from Kurt, who tried to get off the ice rink as quick as possible. Once he was off, he changed back into his own shoes. He was starting to get cold now. He could really do with some hot chocolate, or even better a warm Blaine by his side. Instead, he got to watch Blaine skate another few laps. He looked cute in his long coat paired with a red scarf and stupid earmuffs. They weren't stylish, nor would they even be, but Kurt had long since forgiven Blaine for wearing them. Blaine made them endearing, if he squinted he could even appreciate them. 

Kurt was lost in thought when Blaine approached him again. "I think it's time for hot chocolate, you look cold." 

Kurt wanted to say he wasn't, but his body played him as he shivered. Blaine quickly changed out of his skates as well. 

"We could go to the vendor over there," he motioned, but then shook his head. "I think we should go somewhere we can sit inside though. Don't want this to end with you having hypothermia." 

"You're such a drama queen," Kurt laughed. He got up off the bench and followed Blaine to wherever he was taking him. 

"What, can't I care about my boyfriend?" The mention of boyfriend did weird things to Kurt. It made him feel warm inside and he was sure his cheeks were a bright red. He was lucky he could blame that red blush on the cold. 

"Fake boyfriend," Kurt corrected. 

"Sure, fake boyfriend, but not for long though," Blaine winked. Kurt wasn't sure what he meant by that, but decided not to ask about it. 

"You'll be telling me about Sebastian, right?" Kurt asked instead. He watched as Blaine's face transformed into a frown. 

Blaine looked over his shoulder to meet Kurt’s eye and gave him a little nod. Kurt could tell he didn’t want to talk about it with Kurt, he went rigid every time Kurt mentioned it. Yet, both of them knew they’d have to talk about it. They needed to be able to tell a convincing story to Blaine’s parents. Kurt didn’t want to give them an opportunity to question their son even more. 

“Eyes on the road, I can’t show up at yours parents doorstep with you all bruised up. They’d never believe I was good enough for you.” 

He heard Blaine chuckle. “That’s because you aren’t Kurt,” his voice was laced with sincerity

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kurt said. 

“You’re way too good for me,” Blaine answered. He was still walking in front of Kurt, so Kurt couldn’t look Blaine in the eye when he said that. He couldn’t read his expression and it really bothered him. 

“We’ll talk about this in a minute,” Kurt thus stated. He wanted to look Blaine in the eyes when he was saying all those things. He wanted to see if he really meant it, which he highly doubted. 

When they finally arrived at the cafe Blaine had in mind, Kurt was warm again. They’d walked fast enough, almost like real New Yorkers would. The pair looked around to find a place they could sit. Sadly, the places by the window were all taken. Kurt loved to watch people, not that much of that happened when he was with Blaine. Blaine always seemed to capture all of his attention for some reason, but Kurt wouldn’t admit that, or not yet at least. 

They settled in the far right corner of the cafe. As soon as they sat down, the waitress approached them to ask for their drinks. Both decided on hot chocolate, that’s what they came for after all. 

“So, you get to choose what we’re talking about first. You saying I’m way too good for you or Sebastian. There’s no escaping though, Mister Anderson. We are talking about this. Today,” Kurt tried to sound as stern as possible. 

Blaine held up his hands in mercy, “Fine, fine!”

“Sebastian or me first?” Kurt smirked at him in a flirty manner. Blaine failed to meet his eyes, but Kurt could see he had an effect on him. 

“Let’s just get this Sebastian story over with. I haven’t told my parents a lot about him, I’m not even sure if they know his name,” Blaine wanted to go on, but Kurt held up his hand and made him stop talking. 

“You don’t know whether you told your parents his name? You don’t know whether I’ll be going by Sebastian or Kurt when I meet your parents? I thought you’d planned this better Blaine,” Kurt rattled on. Blaine shrinked in his chair, he knew he wasn’t that prepared, but in his defence, he wasn’t planning on breaking up with Sebastian when he talked to his mom on the phone. 

“Sorry, I didn’t think he’d break up with me alright,” Blaine snapped. 

“Sorry, I’ll keep my mouth shut for the remainder of the story,” Kurt apologised. He understood Blaine was still dealing with the hurt Sebastian inflicted upon him by breaking up with him. 

“Thank you,” Blaine nodded, eyes softening again. “So I called my mom to ask if I could bring him home and I had asked a few times before and she never agreed. She wanted to make an exception for Christmas though, something to do with the Christmas spirit, don’t ask. I didn’t want to scare him away, so I hadn’t told him about it until I got the okay from my parents. We had been dating for a couple of months when I first asked, we had never really had the talk about us being exclusive. But we spent enough time together to assume we were. When I told him I’d like to introduce him to my parents, I think we’d been dating for half a year. He was disgusted.” Blaine paused, swallowing the tears away. He would not cry over the insensitive prick again. Kurt reached over the table to grasp Blaine’s hand as a sense of comfort. 

“I will never forget the look on his face. He looked at me as if I was crazy. He told me he thought I was crazy. It dawned on me that it had happened again. I had thought we had something when we didn’t. It’s happened before you know, but those guys never stuck around for more than a month, a couple at most. I just, I just thought we were together after half a year of dating, but I guess I was wrong. He told me to stop being stupid and to get it through my skull that we weren’t even dating. After six months, Kurt. Six months,” Blaine looked as if he’d break in seconds. Instead of saying something, Kurt got up out of his chair and moved it around to Blaine’s side of the table. He sat close enough so that he could wrap his arms around the boy. 

“I’m sorry, you deserve better,” Kurt whispered into his hair. 

“That’s why I have you now,” Blaine whispered back. Kurt was unsure what Blaine meant by that. Was it simply the end of his story, or did he want to imply something else with it? He decided not to comment on it. He’d just have to make sure Blaine knew they were fake dating, no matter how real it felt at times. He kind of understood why his roommates had said they went on dates. He also understood he had to be careful, he had to make sure Blaine wouldn’t be hurt again as long as he could help it. 

The waitress approached their table and broke the moment. She asked them if she could be of any help, which they declined. Soon after when she brought the bill to the pair, they were both back on their respectable sides of the table. They didn’t talk about Sebastian anymore.

“Tell me about your plans for Christmas break?” Kurt asked. He hadn’t planned a lot himself yet, he’d known he’d be going back home for a couple of weeks now, they had never discussed the details though. Kurt didn’t even know how long they would be staying in Ohio, he’d just forgotten to ask in all the chaos of everything. 

“Well, we’re flying the 22nd and I was hoping you’d stay with me until Christmas,” Blaine looked up at Kurt, eyes soft and hopeful. Kurt was glad he brought that up, he wanted to surprise his dad with his visit and being able to stay at Blaine’s would definitely help in that. However, he wasn’t looking forward to staying in a house with Blaine’s family. He had never met them, but already dreaded it. 

“I was thinking about surprising my dad for Christmas, I haven’t told him we’re coming down yet. So maybe I could stay at your parents’ house with you until then,” Kurt said carefully. 

“I’d understand it if you didn’t want to stay there, I’m kind of dreading it as well,” Blaine admitted. “It’s still my family though. I’ve survived all those years before, so a week more shouldn’t matter.” 

“When are we flying back? I forgot to ask you before,” Kurt said, his voice trembled.  
“Well, a week from the 22nd, so the 29th. I wanted to be here for New Years. Sam and I have spent New Years together every year we lived together, it’s sort of our thing. We throw a party in our flat. You should come,” Blaine smiled. “Maybe you can bring Santana and Rachel over as well. I think I’ve already invited Rachel actually.” Blaine was rambling and Kurt found it adorable, it showed he was nervous to ask Kurt that. 

“You might not be my fake boyfriend after Christmas anymore, but we still can be friends,” Kurt offered a smile, which Blaine returned. 

“So you’re coming?” 

“Yes, yes I will,” Kurt said, he could see the relief taking over Blaine. 

-

The Winter Showcase had come and gone. Rachel and Blaine had both blown the roof off, but in the end someone else went home with the crown. They hadn’t won, but it was alright since it was their first time performing. Kurt had been in the audience and he had loved watching his best friends perform. 

The texting between the two had continued, but after their skating adventure they hadn’t met up again. That would change soon as they would have to rush to the JFK airport to catch their flight to Columbus. Like in his dream, Cooper would be there to pick up the boys. 

Kurt had managed not to spill the beans to Burt yet. He was actually getting nervous about the entire situation. He wasn’t sure how his dad would react once he was on his doorstep. Sure, he would be over the moon about their reunification, but whether he’d like his and Blaine’s story, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t morally right and Burt could be very adamant when it came to things like that. 

Kurt would only be leaving New York for a week, but if you looked at the suitcase he had been dragging around, you’d think he’d be gone for a month. He had packed all his already planned out outfits, some extra outfits and way too many shoes. But he didn’t want to look anything other than fabulous for his fake family in law. The more fabulous he looked, the more self assured he would be, the less the expected homophobic comments would hit him. That was Kurt’s reasoning behind it. His friends had all laughed at him though. Especially when they saw Blaine’s suitcase was half the size of Kurt’s. Kurt had just said it was all the presents he was bringing home, but all had known that was a lie. 

“JFK is very festive, isn’t it?” Blaine commented when they looked around in the big entrance hall. 

“Sure, but let’s get going, we have a flight to catch,” Kurt said excitedly. Blaine was way less excited, he seemed to be dreading going home. Kurt was dreading the few days they would spend at Blaine’s house, but the promise of getting to see his dad was definitely overshining that. 

Once the two boys were on the plane, they had a little less than two hours to kill. They still hadn’t really talked about how they would handle the situation, what was off limits and what wasn’t. They had basically set themselves up for a disaster. Kurt blamed Blaine entirely though, because every time Kurt brought it up, Blaine would change the subject. 

“Blaine, I know you don’t want to talk about this, but we really need to set our game plan,” Kurt said, he looked Blaine directly in the eyes to show him how serious he was. 

“All I know is that we’re supposedly dating for half a year, I need more than that. I know you said you haven’t told your parents much, but out stories do have to match up.” 

Blaine let his head hang, clearly not wanting to talk about it. “I know, I know, I just still can’t believe you actually agreed to do this.”

“Well, I’m on an airplane right next to you, so you better start believing it,” Kurt deadpanned. 

“You’re right. Thank you, again. I owe you,” Blaine said, eyes finally meeting Kurt’s again. 

“Okay, so tell me the game plan. I’m down for anything, I just need to know what I can expect and what you expect of me, alright?”

“I understand,” Blaine nodded. He looked as if he was only just thinking about how to approach the subject. 

“I met Sebastian in a nightclub, but I think it’s better to stick to the truth as much as possible. Which means we should just say that we met at school, what do you think?” 

“Sure, we can say you bumped into me in the hallway, which isn’t that much different than what actually happened,” Kurt shrugged. Blaine was nodding next to him. 

“I think we should keep PDA to a minimum as well. I mean we’ve never kissed so it surely would be awkward, but I don’t think my parents would appreciate it if we do, so I don’t think that’s a problem. Maybe Cooper will bug us about it, but I can handle him,” Blaine rambled. It was cute, Kurt thought, Blaine rambling nervously made a cute picture. 

Blaine caught Kurt smiling at him like a fool. He carefully smiled back as he wasn’t sure why the other boy was smiling at him. 

“Sure, I can work with no kissing, what about holding hands? Or like sitting on the couch? Am I supposed to be attached to the hip with you or not?” Kurt was quiet for a moment and so was Blaine as he was going over it in his head, trying to paint the picture. He just wouldn’t know how his parents would react, so he did not have an answer for Kurt. 

“What- what about sleeping together?” Kurt looked at Blaine with panic in his eyes. 

“I didn’t think about that,” Blaine answered him honestly. “Would you mind if you had to sleep next to me?” 

“I-erm I don’t know, no offense, but yea,” Kurt trailed. He didn’t want to admit to Blaine that he’d only ever shared the bed with his girl friends before. The idea of sleeping in a bed with Blaine made him nervous, more nervous than he’d like to admit. 

“Maybe my parents set up the guest room for you? I don’t know? Or I could sneak into the guestroom if you want to? Or I’d just sleep on the floor, we’ll figure it out okay?”

Kurt nodded, before lying back in his seat. The plane had taken off and they’d had the worst part of the flight. Soon, Kurt was snoring softly in his seat, Blaine looking at him with an adoring look. Kurt’s lips were slightly open and they looked so kissable, Blaine had to restrain himself and look the other way. Kurt might be his fake boyfriend, but that didn’t mean he had the right to kiss those lips. The thought had crossed his mind a couple of times the past few weeks, but he really needed to straighten himself out. He wanted to keep Kurt as a friend after this and that wouldn’t happen if he jumped on Kurt. 

When the flight attendant reminded everyone to put their seatbelts on again, Blaine shook Kurt awake.

“Sorry, Kurt, we’re going to land, you need to put your seatbelt back on,” Blaine said softly once Kurt’s eyes fluttered open. Kurt looked at him with confusion. 

“Seatbelt, we’re nearly there,” once Kurt processed Blaine’s words, he quickly sat up and seemed wide awake, as if stung by a bee. 

“Right,” he muttered before grasping the seatbelt and fastening it. 

“You looked really peaceful and I would’ve let you sleep, but I didn’t know whether you would be comfortable with me doing that,” Blaine said as Kurt was fighting with the clasp of the seatbelt. 

“Erm, thank you?” Kurt said, he didn’t know what to think. The fact that he’d only just woken up didn’t work either. 

They landed safely. Kurt groaned in annoyance once half of the plane clapped afterwards. Those pilots were just doing their job after all, he didn’t get an applause for waiting a table either. 

Blaine was nervously drumming his fingers on his leg. It kind of annoyed Kurt, but he didn’t want to say anything because he could feel the nerves thrumming in his muscles as well. 

Kurt reached out and grabbed Blaine’s hand to make it stop. “It’ll be alright, I promise,” he said, he knew it was an empty promise, but he would sure as hell try to make it alright. 

Blaine sighed, gave Kurt a sharp nod and stopped drumming his fingers. He started moving his leg instead. He noticed it and looked at Kurt, who had released his hand again. Kurt only shook his head slightly, but didn’t do anything to stop him. 

Once the doors opened, Kurt and Blaine remained seated. They weren’t in a rush to be reunified with family, they were actually dreading that moment. They were the last to leave the plane apart from the staff. They wished the staff happy holidays as well before exiting. 

Outside the plane, Blaine took a few sharp breaths. He reminded himself that Cooper was picking them up and it would all be okay. Cooper had always supported him. Sure, he was annoying and his head was way too big, but he’d never been hostile towards Blaine. 

They collected their luggage before going to the departure lounge. Just before the door opened, Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine’s. Blaine quickly glanced at their entwined hands and then at Kurt’s face, who nodded at him. Both guys found relief in holding hands. 

Blaine plastered a smile on his face, then looked for his brother. Cooper, as ridiculous as he was, was holding up a sign with Blaine + Blaine’s loverboy. Blaine pointed it out to Kurt, who chuckled and rolled his eyes. 

When Cooper noticed his brother, his face split in a smile as well. He opened his arms to hug his brother. Blaine let go of Kurt’s hand to embrace his brother. 

“It’s good to see you again Squirt,” Cooper said. Blaine groaned in response, still annoyed with the nickname his brother had given him. 

“It’s good to see you too Coop, I missed you,” once he said it, he realised that he had really missed his brother. 

“It’s good to see you so happy,” Cooper whispered into Blaine’s ear, which took Blaine off guard. 

Kurt was awkwardly standing next to the pair, he didn’t know what to do, so he fiddled with the handle on his suitcase. 

The Anderson’s let go of each other and Cooper’s attention was on Kurt immediately. “Hey, you’re Sebastian right?”

Kurt and Blaine shared an awkward look, both had hoped Blaine hadn’t mentioned Sebastian’s name, but apparently he did. 

“Erm, yes, I am,” Kurt said, smiling apprehensively. He rubbed his hand on his jeans before extending his hand to Cooper. “You’re Cooper I assume.” 

Cooper took his hand and shook it, a little too enthusiatically for Kurt’s liking. Instead of letting go, Cooper wrapped Kurt up in a hug as well. “Oof,” Kurt said upon the impact of Cooper’s body against his.

“I told you he’s very enthusiastic,” Blaine laughed. Cooper threw a dirty look his way. “Careful Squirt, or you’ll have to walk to Westerville.” 

“Don’t you dare, I might just skip Christmas altogether then,” Blaine said. 

“Can’t do that to poor Sebastian, now can you?” Cooper said jokingly. 

Blaine nodded, but Kurt could tell that Blaine had been truthful when he said he’d want to skip Christmas. 

“I’d tell you to walk to Lima instead, but I’m not sure if I could escape as well,” Kurt said. 

“Blaine, what have you told him? That boy is scared out of his mind,” Cooper said, looking angrily at Blaine. 

“Nothing but the truth, you don’t know how mom and dad will react either, now do you?” Blaine said, matching Cooper’s anger. 

“Well, I hope you reassured him by telling him that I’ll be there to protect you,” Cooper said, wrapping his arms around both boys. He pushed them forward to walk towards the car. 

“I don’t need protecting,” Kurt said, he’d been fine fighting for himself all those years, so he’d be fine now too. 

“Hush, you just appreciate it, alright?” 

-

The drive to the Anderson household was only about half an hour. Kurt noticed Blaine getting more nervous with each passing second, which lead to Kurt being really nervous as well. He just wanted Blaine to have a good experience, so that when he really wanted to bring someone home, it would be alright. 

"Are you okay?" Kurt whispered to Blaine, who was sitting next to him in the back. Cooper had told Blaine it was okay if he sat with his boyfriend. It had been weird for Kurt to be referred to as someone's boyfriend. It took him a second to realise Cooper was actually talking about him, he just hoped he'd get used to it soon. Although he hoped he didn't become too used to it, because they'd only be 'boyfriends' for a couple of days. 

Blaine didn't answer, he just shrugged. He looked at Kurt and Kurt could see the panic in his eyes. 

"Deep breaths Blaine, in and out," he reminded him. He took Blaine's hand and placed it on his chest to guide him in the breathing pattern. "Like that." 

Blaine nodded and Kurt didn't know if he was imagining it, but his touch seemed to calm down Blaine already. 

Kurt noticed Cooper looking at them through the rear view mirror. He was about to drop Blaine's hand and break the contact, but then he realised this was okay to do, because he was supposed to be Blaine's boyfriend. The smile around Cooper's lips assured him that he was doing the right thing. 

"We're nearly there boys, you okay Blaine?" Cooper asked. 

Blaine shook his head, "I'm not, but we'll make it through." He looked at Kurt to get an affirmative nod, which Kurt granted him. 

Cooper got the suitcases out of the trunk, telling his brother to head in already. Normally Blaine opened the door with the key his parents had given him when he was about 12 years old, but that just didn't feel right this time. He knocked on the door, which earned him a weird look from his brother, but he professionally ignored that. 

"Hello, oh, hi, Blaine, it's you," his mother said as she opened the door. She wrapped Blaine up in a hug, it seemed as if she had genuinely had missed her youngest son. 

"It's good to see you and who's that?" She asked curiously, nodding in Kurt's direction. 

"Erm, this is Sebastian, you know the guy I told you about on the phone," Blaine explained. 

"Sebastian, this is my mother Pamela Anderson." Kurt nodded in curtesy before extending his hand to Pamela. 

"Don't be silly," she said before wrapping Kurt up in a hug as well. 

"It's nice to finally meet you, Blaine has told me so much about you," Pamela said. Blaine and Kurt exchanged a look, knowing Blaine had hardly told her anything about him. But at least Pam was trying. 

"Where's dad?" Cooper asked as he stepped into the hallway as well. 

"Oh, he left and went on a walk, he should be back in about 15 minutes."

"Alright," Blaine said, not sure what to do with the information. Had his father planned this to escape the situation or was it just a coincidence? 

"Why don't you boys go upstairs and settle in? I made the up guestroom for you friend Blaine," Pam said. 

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a quick look and Kurt was about to speak up to correct her, but Blaine was faster. 

"He's my boyfriend mum and he is staying in my room. You wouldn't make Cooper's girlfriend stay in the guestroom, so Sebastian is sleeping in my room as well," he sounded angry when he said it, but his eyes showed that he was more hurt than anything else. 

"I'm sorry Blaine. Sebastian dear, are you sure you want to stay in Blaine's room?" 

"I'm positive Mrs Anderson. I hope I'm no bother," Kurt said politely, although he was seeding with rage. His acting skills came in handy after all. 

"Okay, well that's settled then," she said. She started cleaning up the already spotless kitchen. 

Blaine took Kurt's hand and pulled him with him towards the staircase. Cooper had already taken the suitcases upstairs, so they'd only have to take them to Blaine's room. 

"I'm so sorry about that, it's just like in your dream. I hope she didn't scare you away. I'm so sorry Kurt," before Blaine would repeat himself again and again, Kurt put his finger on Blaine's lips. It effectively shut him up. 

"It's okay Blaine, don't worry. We knew what we were getting ourselves into, didn't we?" Blaine nodded, but the discomfort was still evident in his eyes. 

"I'm also sorry that you have to go by Sebastian," Blaine apologised. 

Kurt wanted to say that he wasn't. If he'd been referred to as Kurt, Blaine's boyfriend it would've been harder to tell himself that he wasn't. He wasn't sure if he really liked Blaine, but he did like the idea of being Blaine's boyfriend. The little non-dates that could pass as dates they'd had taught him that much. It was easy to be loved by Blaine he thought to himself. 

So instead of saying anything, Kurt just shrugged. 

"How do you think your dad will react?" 

"I don't know. After I'd just come out to him, he showed me a lot of tough love. But when I was beaten up after a Sadie Hawkins dance I attended with the only other out gay kid, he kind of changed. He told me I shouldn't have to go through something like that again, so he pulled me out of that school. He secured me a spot at Dalton. They had a no bullying protocol that was looked after very closely. I think it was his way of showing me that he cared. It was further away from here though, so I had to live on campus. We didn't really see each other apart from during the holidays. Maybe that's also why I don't have that strong a connection with them," Blaine just told him the story like that. It was easy to tell Kurt, well it wasn't easy to talk about it, but he had been the easiest to tell about this. He trusted Kurt. He knew Kurt would understand. 

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Blaine could see the emotion on Kurt's face. Kurt realised he had really lucked out in the parent department. He knew he was lucky, but when he heard stories like this, it was affirmed once again that Burt Hummel was something else. 

"It's okay, it made me stronger," Blaine shrugged. 

Kurt just smiled at Blaine, before going over to his suitcase. He laid it on its side and unzipped it. Taking the clothes that needed to be hung out. “Do you mind if I put these in your closet? I don’t want them to get all wrinkled.” 

Like that the emotional moment was over. Blaine told Kurt it was fine if he’d use his closet. When Kurt opened the closet, he saw Blaine’s Dalton uniform hanging there. 

“You still have it,” he said a little breathlessly. 

“Of course I do, it reminds me of the best years of my life,” Blaine mused. He had a dreamy look on his face, clearly thinking back to his years at Dalton. It was the place he felt loneliest, but it also held precious memories of him and Sam. 

“That sounds kind of sad,” Kurt replied, quickly putting the hanger back in the closet. 

“Wait no, give it to me,” Blaine stopped Kurt in his motion. Taking the hanger out of his hand. He took the jacket off and looked at it with a fond expression on his face. He put his face into the fabric and smelled it. It didn’t smell like it used to. 

“I-I think you should try it on,” Kurt said, curious to see how it would look on Blaine. Blaine shrugged off the brown cardigan he was wearing and put his arms through the sleeves to shrug the jacket on. He closed the door of the wardrobe to look at himself in the mirror of the door. He saw a smile in his reflection. 

“It still fits,” he said, making eye contact with Kurt in the mirror. They smiled at each other. Kurt slowly approached Blaine and put his hands on his shoulders. They looked good together, they seemed to fit right then and there. It was as if they were supposed to be there together in that moment. 

Blaine shook his head and quickly shrugged off the jacket again, making Kurt’s hands fall down to his sides. 

“Blaine, Sebastian!” Pam screamed from presumably down the hallway. “Dinner!” 

Blaine sighed and straightened his posture, trying to compose himself to make sure his dad would approve. He felt like his dad’s approval was more important than anything in the world. He knew he’d already disappointed him by choosing NYADA over NYU or other more prestigious universities. He didn’t want to disappoint him again with his choice in men. 

“C’mon it’ll be alright,” Kurt said, inhaling deeply before taking Blaine’s hand in his and pulling him out of the room and down the stairs. Before opening the door to the dining room, they dropped the hands again. 

Kurt and Alexander Anderson nodded at each other upon the arrival. 

“Erm, Dad? I’d like you to meet my boyfriend Sebastian,” he said. His father didn’t stand up to approach Kurt, so instead, Kurt walked over to the other side of the table to extend his hand to the man. He took Kurt’s had and shook it in a firm handshake.

“Alexander,” was all he hummed. 

“It’s nice to meet you Mr Anderson,” Kurt said politely. Pamela entered the room and Kurt shifted his attention to the lady. 

“Mrs Anderson, where would you like to have me?” He asked, trying to figure out where he would be seated. Cooper wasn’t there yet and Blaine had been lingering around as well, so Kurt was unsure what to do. 

“You can sit right there,” she motioned to the chair Kurt was standing in front of. He would be sitting opposite Mr Anderson, who had not been very nice nor welcoming to him. The thought of spending the next hour there made Kurt shudder, but he still took place in that exact spot. He eyed Blaine, trying to signal to him to sit down next to him. 

Kurt let out a tiny sigh of relief when Blaine sat down to him indeed. Pamela joined her husband on the other side of the table, leaving the head of the table for Cooper. 

Dinner was awkward, no one really spoke. There was no sense of courtesy whatsoever. There was no small talk, but maybe they should be thankful for that. The only sound that resembled dinner was that of the cutlery against the plates. 

Once the plates were almost empty, Pam spoke up. "What are your plans for the coming week, Blaine?" 

"Well, Sebastian and I had a chat and we'd like to go see his dad on Christmas day. He's over in Lima, which is like 1.5 hours away from here. I think we'll stay over, right hun?" Blaine announced, looking over at Kurt for him to confirm their plans. 

"Yes, you're right," he said smiling at Blaine. He hoped he could convey that dopey in love look. 

"So what does he do?" Alexander asked. 

"My dad's a mechanic, he owns a tire shop. He also ran for congressman," Kurt felt like he had to up his game. Then almost cursed himself because if they'd know Burt, then it wouldn't end well. Their cover would be blown. 

"Now did he, what's his name?" Alexander replied. 

"Oh, it was only for a short period of time. My step mother and I talked him out of it again once we noticed it was taking a toll on his health." 

"Why'd you do such a thing?" Alexander had a look of disgust. 

"We said he'd had to give up the shop or being a congressman. He'd already suffered a heart attack a year prior and we didn't want to lose him. He understood and we collectively agreed he'd step down," Kurt explained matter-of-factly. He now knew what kind of man he dealt. One of those who'd put their career above all else.

Blaine started to get uncomfortable, so he decided to push his chair backwards. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd like to take Sebastian on a walk around the block and I guess we'll freshen up and retire for the night afterwards," like that Blaine had excused them for the night. 

Kurt picked up his plate and glass to leave it in the kitchen sink, Blaine followed his example. His mother nodded in approval. 

In the kitchen, Blaine asked: “Where’s your coat? Is it upstairs?” Kurt nodded, still in thought about the awkward dinner they had just sat through. 

“I’ll get it for you, okay?” Blaine asked, shoving the plates on the kitchen counter. He left Kurt standing there, he didn’t even wait for an answer. Kurt was fine with it though, he understood Blaine needed a moment for himself. 

Kurt opened a few cupboards to find out where in the gigantic kitchen the dishwasher was located. He found it and loaded the empty dishes into it, trying to copy the way other dishes and cutlery looked already. Kurt was done and leaned against the kitchen counter to wait for Blaine. He wouldn’t interrupt his time for himself, plus, this gave him a moment to evaluate as well. Nothing too awful had happened. Sure, it was very awkward to sit with all those people. And honestly, he had expected Cooper to talk the dinner together, since he was all about protecting Blaine and all that stuff. However, nothing of the sort had happened. He also cursed himself for almost fucking up when talking about his father. He was glad he didn’t talk about the policies his dad had fought for, because that would’ve probably been a dead giveaway. 

Kurt heard the harsh sound of someone descending the stairs, so he looked up to the kitchen door and was met with Blaine. He still looked a bit shaken up, but Kurt was sure that’d go down once they would be able to talk freely outside the walls of the Anderson household. 

“Hi,” Blaine whispered, extending the arm in which he was holding Kurt’s coat to the other boy. Kurt accepted the coat and shrugged it on. 

“We’re leaving,” Blaine screamed towards the door of the dining room, he didn’t even wait for a response. He gently pushed Kurt in the direction of the front door. 

“Do you have your keys on you?” Kurt asked. He wasn’t sure whether Blaine would want to face his family again after the walk. He thought it would be better safe than sorry. Blaine reached into the pocket of his coat and retrieved his keys, then pushed them back in the pocket again. 

“Let’s go,” his eyes had softened again and he was sporting a small smile on his face. Kurt opened the front door and Blaine followed him out onto the driveway. 

“Lead the way,” Kurt said, waiting a bit so that Blaine would be walking next to him. 

“I don’t know where to go, it’s just that I couldn’t be inside any longer,” he looked upset again and anger was lingering in his voice. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kurt tried to comfort him, he placed his hand on Blaine’s shoulder and just kept walking. They’d dig deeper into this once they had left the Anderson property altogether. 

“It’s not fucking okay, Kurt,” Blaine said angrily. He had stopped in his tracks and kicked the pebbles that filled the driveway. The hand Kurt had put on his shoulder had fallen off again. Blaine stared off in space, making sure not to meet Kurt’s eyes. He didn’t want to see the pity in them. 

Kurt tried to move Blaine’s body around so that he would be facing him, but Blaine refused. He wiped Kurt’s hands off his body and started walking again, he’d fastened his pace, but thanks to his longer legs, Kurt could keep up. 

“Blaine, c’mon, don’t be like this,” Kurt said, trying to get Blaine to slow down again. 

“Don’t be like what Kurt,” he turned around to face Kurt now, standing still again. Kurt hadn’t actually expected him to do so, so his body collided with Blaine’s. 

“Sorry,” he muttered as he took a step backwards. He didn’t get the chance to say anything else though, because Blaine went on. 

“Everyone always tells me not to be this or that and I’m just sick and tired of it. I’m never enough. No matter how hard I try. I will never be able to please them. They will never be happy with what I do. They will always find a flaw.” 

Kurt let Blaine rant, not sure where this emotional outburst had come from. Blaine had started off angry, but halfway through he’d burst out in tears. He looked very vulnerable in the street lantern light. Kurt was unable to read his expression, but the boy had shrunk. He didn’t stand proud anymore and it hurt Kurt to see Blaine like this. In New York he’d met a happy and bubbly guy, but that had resolved. 

“Is there a park nearby? Anywhere we can sit and talk?” Kurt asked. He wanted to wrap Blaine up in his arms, but he didn’t know whether he’d appreciate that, so he didn’t do anything. 

“Yes, gosh, sorry Kurt. I did it again,” Blaine said, furiously wiping the tears from his face. 

"Don't worry about it, okay? Now let's get to that park, so we can talk about this all, yes?" Blaine nodded, looking around him to see where they currently were and walking in the direction of a nearby playground. 

"Cooper and I used to play here all the time," he said, reminiscing the easier times. "Then I used to play here on my own because he thought he'd gotten too old for it." 

Kurt smiled, like he always seemed to do when Blaine said something. "There is no bench though?" 

"I know, but I was thinking we could maybe sit on the swings," there was a glimpse of mischief in his eyes, although they were still glistening with tears as well. 

"Sure," he approached a swing and sat down on it. Soon Blaine planted his bum on the swing on Kurt's right side. Instead of speaking, he started to move his legs. Soon he'd go higher and higher. Kurt couldn't stay behind, he started to swing as well. 

Blaine started to laugh, it didn't sound as it should. It sounded strained and pained. The louder it got, the more Kurt wanted it to stop. So Kurt jumped off the swing and encouraged Blaine to do the same. So he did, instead of landing the jump, he just let himself fall to the ground. Kurt rushed over to where he had fallen. 

"Are you alright Blaine?" Kurt sounded panicked, he didn't know what had just happened. 

Blaine rolled around to face Kurt. Tears were streaming down his face and he was starting that loud, agonising laugh. 

"Please, stop," Kurt said. Or urged, because he didn't know how to handle this Blaine. He could do angry Blaine, sad Blaine, happy Blaine, but delirious Blaine was something else. 

“Blaine, love, I need you to sit up,” Kurt tried, to no avail though, Blaine could only seem to lay on the grass wailing and laughing loudly. If anyone had passed by, they surely would’ve called the police, the picture they made must look really wrong. First of all, they were two adults in a playground and second of all there was Blaine. 

So, Kurt took the matters in his own hand. He didn’t know whether touching Blaine would only make this worse or not, as he’d never dealt with anyone in such a state. Nor did he know what triggered Blaine to go into this state of mind, but he was willing to try and get him out of it. He scooched closer to Blaine. 

Kurt warned him before touching Blaine, “Blaine, I’m gonna push you up and sit behind you alright?” He knew he wouldn’t get an answer, but doctors would always tell their patients what they were doing, so Kurt thought it could help. He slowly pushed Blaine into a sitting position, which wasn’t easy as Blaine’s body did not cooperate. He sat down behind him, letting Blaine’s body rest against him chest. He made sure to calmly inhale and exhale, hoping Blaine would follow his lead. 

“Blaine, try to breathe with me,” he said, deeply inhaling. He exhaled again, blowing the air on the skin of Blaine’s neck. He could tell Blaine was calming down from his actions, so he just kept repeating them. 

“I’m sorry,” Blaine stuttered, once the tears had stopped flowing. He turned around to meet Kurt’s eyes, he looked up at him and shame flickered across his face. 

“Hey, nothing of that, it’s okay, you can talk to me,” Kurt said, honesty laced through his voice. He was kind of shaken up about the breakdown Blaine just had, but he was certain not to let Blaine feel ashamed about it. Everyone needed someone and if Blaine needed Kurt to be that someone for him, he’d gladly be that person. 

“You don’t want to run right now?” Blaine asked, he tried to smile through it, but it wasn’t really working. He still didn’t have his breathing under control and sometimes a tear would betray him and slip out. 

“I’m not gonna lie, this scared me. But no, I don’t want to run away,” Kurt replied. He hoped Blaine could tell that he was being honest with him. 

“M’sorry,” he said once again. 

“I hope this is not too much to ask,” Kurt said, looking questioningly and taking a deep breath before continuing, “but what brought this on? I won’t judge you, I just want to know what I can do to help prevent this in the future.” 

“I don’t know,” Blaine answered. Kurt was unsure whether he honestly didn’t know or if he was too scared to actually tell Kurt. 

Instead of bugging Blaine to reply, Kurt looked up at the sky and noticed how bright the stars were. He nudged Blaine’s side and pointed up. Blaine looked confused, but rested his head against Kurt’s shoulder and continued to look up. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Blaine commented, his breathing slowly returning back to normal. 

“Yes,” Kurt said breathlessly, “it’s crazy, the stars we see right now might be dead already.” He then realised that wasn’t really an uplifting comment, but he couldn’t take it back anymore. He put his hands in the grass to support himself and Blaine as Blaine had put all his weight on Kurt and his abs weren’t strong enough to keep them both up. 

“It is, but it’s also sort of beautiful,” Blaine said, he sounded melancholic, “I hope my life will be like that. Still leaving traces once I’m dead.” 

“That’s nice,” Kurt nodded. The pair kept watching the stars for a little longer. When Blaine started to shiver due to the cold, Kurt made them stand up. 

“I think we need to jump around a bit,” Kurt broke the silence, he nodded over to the seesaw. Blaine seemed to be back to that excitable childlike demeanor he sometimes had and ran over to it. Kurt rolled his eyes and followed his friend over to the seesaw, sitting down on the other end. 

“Why are we even doing this?” Kurt questioned, he tried to picture what this would look like if someone would pass by and he preferred not to know. 

“Because we’re cold and you were the one to suggest this,” Blaine frowned at Kurt, but then smiled. He quickly jumped off his end of the seesaw, watching Kurt fall down to the floor. He quietly giggled as it brought back the memories of the endless times he and Cooper had done this together. 

“That’s not funny Blaine, it actually hurt!” Kurt exclaimed, but he couldn’t contain his laugh either. He was way too happy to see Blaine smile again. 

“Let’s go to the swings and talk,” Kurt suggested. He stood up from the seesaw, walking over to the pair of swings. He waited for Blaine to walk over as well. Blaine sat down and actually stayed in place now. 

“What just happened?” Kurt asked again, hoping to get an honest answer from Blaine this time. 

“I-I don’t know,” Blaine answered again. “I don’t know how to explain. It was just all too much.” 

Kurt looked at him in understanding. “Take your time, we have all night.” 

“So, I think it just started with Sebastian dumping me. Or rather telling me we never had anything in the first place. I didn’t really cry over that or process the break up. Then I was really stressed over not being able to take him home, but luckily Rachel pointed me in your direction. That was a relief, but having to spend time to get to know you added a new level of stress. Not that I didn't like it or anything, it just added pressure. Oh and the Winter Showcase on top of it all as well. Once we came here I really hoped my parents would try, but they didn't? I feel like your nightmare became a reality. My dad just straight up ignored you and my mum called you my friend. It was just too much."

"I'm so sorry you feel that way. Just know that you can talk to me if you ever feel like you need to talk to someone," Kurt replied. He could understand that it all felt like too much for Blaine. He even felt a bit proud that Blaine had trusted him enough to have a breakdown with him near. He just hoped he could be a safe haven for Blaine. 

"Thank you," Blaine whispered, his eyes met Kurt's and in that moment he was incredibly thankful that the blue eyed boy had agreed to go home with him. Kurt gave Blaine a dashing smile, glad that the pair had kind of resolved the problem. 

"Also, my nightmare did not become true. Cooper seems like a nice enough bloke and maybe your mom did refer to me as your friend, that's true. But she hasn't asked you about a girlfriend yet," Kurt joked. It wasn't really joking matter, but he felt like he needed to lift the mood. “Your father has spoken to me as well, so none of the silent treatment I received in my dream. Honestly, it’s fine Blaine. We’ll get through this, don’t worry about me, alright? I’ve dealt with enough homophobes to know my way around them.” 

“I wish you didn’t,” Blaine replied. Kurt just shrugged, he didn’t know what to say to that. It felt wrong to say that at least his dad was supportive. He didn’t want to rub any salt in Blaine’s wounds. He was also questioning if bringing Blaine home would be a wise idea. 

“Blaine, I have to ask you something,” Kurt was wary bringing this up, but he just wanted to do what was best for Blaine. Sure, removing him from his home where his slightly homophobic parents were would be good for him, but Kurt didn’t know how Blaine’d react when he saw how Burt loves and accepts Kurt. 

“Are you gonna ask me to get you an early ticket back home? Or do you already wanna leave to your dad’s place?” Blaine was about to rattled on, but Kurt stopped him. He got up off the swing he’d been sitting on and walked over to Blaine. He removed Blaine’s hands from the icy metal chains and held them in his own. He made sure he could look Blaine directly in the eyes. 

“I told you that I wasn’t going to leave you over this thing that just happened and I intend to keep that promise. I just don’t want a repetition of what just happened, so do you think it would trigger you to go to my dad’s place? Like I don’t want to brag or rub any salt in your wounds and prance around with a loving and accepting dad,” Kurt looked at Blaine questioningly. He wondered if he’d explained himself correctly, probably not. Blaine was looking away from Kurt now, his eyes focussed on his feet, which were playing with the wood chips that adorned the floor. Kurt kind of regretted bringing this up, especially since Blaine probably still felt badly about his breakdown. 

“I-I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I don’t know what triggered me having this breakdown tonight, so I can’t guarantee anything Kurt.” 

Kurt couldn’t see his eyes, but he could sense the pain radiating from Blaine. “Do you want to come? I’d still love for you to tag along and I’m sure my dad wouldn’t mind either. I just don’t want it to make you feel any worse.” 

“Anything is better than staying here,” he muttered, still refusing to meet Kurt’s eye. Kurt carefully tried to push Blaine’s chin up with their joint hands, so he could read the expression on his face. He looked defeated, as if he didn’t know what to do. He looked as if he’d prefer to go up in thin air this very moment. 

“Then you’ll just come with me alright?” Kurt tried to look as cheerful as possible. He was kind of scared Blaine would have another breakdown, but he was still determined to show Blaine that he was safe with Kurt. He also wanted Blaine to know that there are people out there who can genuinely like him for who he was. He was sure his father and Blaine would bond soon. 

Blaine nodded as a response to Kurt, he looked up and let his eyes roam over Kurt’s face. He pulled himself up from the swing by pulling on their linked hands. Blaine used the speed of the movement to fall against Kurt and to engulf him in a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered once again. 

Kurt was surprised by the sudden weight against his chest, but still wrapped his arms around Blaine as well, albeit reluctantly. The pair stood there for a couple of minutes in the lantern light. 

“Let’s get you home again,” Kurt said, gently pushing Blaine backwards. He did keep his arm on Blaine’s waist. He felt like that made the boy feel slightly better. Kurt showed he was not disgusted by him, nor that he was planning on running away any time soon. Once Blaine understood Kurt would keep his arm secured around his waist, he leant into the touch. 

That’s how the pair returned to the Anderson household a couple of hours after they had left. The lights in the living room were off, signaling that the parents were presumably in bed already. 

Blaine had a little trouble getting the key into the keyhole, Kurt was about to take the key out of his hand and try himself, when the door flung open. They were met with a smirking Cooper. “So, Squirt, where have you been?”

“Erm.. Just by the playground we always went to, you remember that one?” He said reluctantly, he wasn’t up for talking to Cooper. He’d done enough talking for the night. 

“Oh sure. You know that’s not really an appropriate place to touch up your boyfriend, you know. You could’ve just done that in your bedroom,” he winked. 

“W-what?” Kurt stuttered, a blush rising on his cheeks. Cooper was really implying they had had sex, while quite the opposite had gone down.

“C’mon, you think I don’t see how messy Blaine’s hair is? Or how both of your trousers have grass stains?” Cooper said, trying to give them a scolding look, but clearly failing. 

“Right, c’mon Kurt, we’re going upstairs,” he grabbed Kurt’s hand and pulled him up the stairs. Blaine quickly shouted a goodnight to Cooper. Kurt was too embarrassed and confused to say anything to Cooper, so he just followed Blaine, not that he had any other chance as the honey-eyed boy was gripping his hand quite tightly. 

Once they entered Blaine’s bedroom, it dawned on him that he and Kurt hadn’t figured out the sleeping situation yet. He frantically looked around the room to find a solution. 

“Blaine, Blaine! Calm down. What’s going on?” He asked, panic rising in his chest. He was afraid Cooper’s comments had set off another breakdown. 

“We need to figure out where I’m sleeping, you can have the bed of course,” he said, grasping one pillow of the double bed and throwing it to the floor. 

“Don’t be silly. Change and get into bed with me,” Kurt kind of surprised himself by saying that, but he meant it. He actually felt some excitement raging through his body by suggesting that. He just hoped there wouldn’t be an awkward situation in the morning. 

“You’re sure?” Blaine asked, his voice was soft and his eyes shone with honesty. 

“Yes, now get into your pyjamas!” Blaine put his hands up in surrender, walked over to his bag and retrieved his pyjamas. 

“Do I need to wear a shirt?” He asked Kurt, who felt his cheeks get warm again. 

“N-no?” He didn’t want to picture Blaine shirtless, but it still happened. He heard Blaine chuckle at the other side of the room. He quickly covered his cheeks with his hands. 

“Don’t,” Blaine said teasingly, taking Kurt’s hands from his face. It only intensified the burn on Kurt’s already red cheeks. He knew his neck and the tips of his ears had gone red as well. Blaine seemed totally unfazed, he even seemed to be enjoying to see what he elicited in Kurt. 

“Now get out of the room and get changed. Knock when you want in again,” Kurt instructed. He took the upper hand to show Blaine that he might be blushing, but he could still get Blaine to do what he wanted him to. 

Blaine hurried out of the room with his pyjama pants in his hands. He left Kurt behind. Kurt took a shaky breath before commencing his nighttime routine. He pulled out his pyjamas. He undressed and neatly folded the clothes he’d worn during the day. He sighed once he saw how dirty his trousers had gotten, he would have to take them to the dry cleaner in Lima or the stain would never come out. 

He had just put on his entire kit when Blaine knocked on the door. Blaine didn’t wait for permission, but just barged into his room. “I did knock, you never told me to wait until you give me permission,” he challenged Kurt. Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed. He took his toiletry bag out and went into the bathroom to do his skincare routine. Once he got back to the room, Blaine was already buried under the blankets. 

“You okay with having the right side of the bed?” Blaine asked him, Kurt didn’t reply, just slid under the covers as well. 

“You can get the light,” he said to Blaine, before turning away from him. Blaine stood up, turned off the lights and slipped into the bed again. Kurt sensed that he wanted to say something, but he refused to turn around. He knew that if he’d look at Blaine, he wouldn’t be able to contain himself. He just needed a bit of distance in that moment. 

“Goodnight Kurt,” was what Blaine setted on. Kurt returned the niceties and closed his eyes, hoping to drift off sooner rather than later. 

-

Kurt woke up to morning sunlight on his face and a warm body pressed up against his back. He assumed Blaine wasn’t awake yet, as his chest was still aligned with Kurt’s backside. Entirely sure he wasn’t though. He tried to shift around to see whether Blaine was awake or not, but the arm around his waist made it unable for him to move. Immediately answering his question as well, if Blaine had been awake, he would’ve released his grip on Kurt. Kurt just tried to get as much room between their bodies as he was getting slightly uncomfortable. He didn’t want to deal with awkward morning wood situations and if he’d feel Blaine’s chest on his back any longer, he feared that he would. It proved to be hard to get out of Blaine’s grip. 

The puffs of air that left Blaine’s mouth hit Kurt’s neck and it made him shiver. He was positive he would soon go crazy if he wasn’t able to leave the bed. His bladder had awakened as well and urged him to visit the bathroom. Kurt grumbled and pushed Blaine’s arm away, releasing himself from his grip. The sudden motion seemed to wake up Blaine. Kurt watched another minute to ensure that he hadn’t woken Blaine and luckily the boy had only turned from his left side to his right side. 

Kurt made his way to the bathroom and decided to get ready for the day. He didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know what Blaine had planned for the day either, nor was he familiar with his surroundings, so he kind of had to wait for Blaine to wake up. 

Kurt quickly showered and got dressed. He went back to Blaine’s room and was met with a still sleeping Blaine. He had rolled over to Kurt’s side of the bed now, his arm hanging off the bed. The sheets had ridden down to his mid-back, leaving his shoulders and upper back exposed. The sight made Kurt’s heart skip a beat. He had been denying his attraction to Blaine for some time now, but at that moment he couldn’t any longer. Blaine was beautiful, broken, but so immensely beautiful. He vowed to protect Blaine and that feeling had only gotten stronger. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he could accept that he definitely liked Blaine at that point. 

At some point during Kurt’s revelation, Blaine had woken up. He hadn’t moved yet, but he could sense Kurt’s eyes on him. The feeling sent shivers down his back. 

Kurt watched as Blaine slowly came back to the life of the living. He saw Blaine roll onto his back and realised that he was still staring at him once Blaine’s eyes met his. Blaine smiled at him. 

“Hi, good morning,” Blaine breathed, his voice still croaky from the sleep in it. Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but nothing seemed to come out. Blaine let out a quiet laugh, which made Kurt chuckle as well, although he was kind of embarrassed too. He wanted to do anything but attract Blaine’s attention, but he seemed to fail. 

“Try again,” Blaine winked at him, sitting up in bed. The sheets pooled at his stomach, giving Kurt a good view of his muscled chest. Instead of speaking, Kurt hurried over to his suitcase, acting as if he needed to find something in it. He kept rummaging through it, thinking about how he could save himself from the situation. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he heard from behind him. Kurt reluctantly stopped rummaging through the suitcase and turned around to see Blaine grinning like a fool. He definitely enjoyed seeing Kurt a fluttery mess. 

“Oh shut up,” Kurt sassed back. He saw Blaine’s shirt hanging from the chair next to his suitcase, so he grabbed it and threw it to the other guy. Blaine caught it and put it down on the bed. 

“I’m going to have a shower, you can go downstairs if you want to. You can get yourself some breakfast, just open all the cupboards and use whatever you find. That’s what I always do,” Blaine shrugged, he seemed a bit uncomfortable mentioning that to Kurt. 

“What do you want? I could cook us something?” Kurt offered. The prospect of eating alone didn’t settle right with him, but he could go down to cook Blaine something. 

“I don’t know what we have, but whatever’s fine. I’m not really picky,” he said, shrugging again. A sense of sadness overtook Kurt, once again he wasn’t sure if Blaine really didn’t care or if his opinion hadn’t been taken seriously one too many times. 

“You sure? I could do pancakes?” Kurt watched Blaine’s eyes light up at the mention of pancakes, so he was determined to make it work. He didn’t wait for Blaine to answer, the way his face had changed, told Kurt more than enough. “I’ll make pancakes.”

“You’re the best,” Blaine said, then exited the room to go to the bathroom to take a shower. 

Kurt took a few deep breaths before he left the safety of Blaine’s bedroom. He apprehensively walked down the stairs, he tried to be quiet so that he could hear whether someone else was downstairs. He didn’t think anyone was out there, it was very quiet, yet he still prepared himself for the worst. 

Once he pushed open the door to the dining room, it turned out to be empty. When he advanced to the kitchen, it was empty as well. Kurt let out a sigh of relief. He started to rummage through the cupboards, searching for the right ingredients for pancakes. He found a package that held pancake mixture, he’d only have to add water. He decided just to go with it, although it looked as if it had been inside the cupboard for ages. He found a mixing bowl as well and a whisker. He mixed the mixture with water and heated a pan on the stove. 

He could hear footsteps on the stairs and was relieved that Blaine would soon be joining him. Although he did think that Blaine had taken that shower suspiciously fast, but he just shook his head and got over it. 

However, when the door to the kitchen opened and Kurt turned around, he was met with the older Anderson brother. He jumped a bit in shock, but quickly got it back together and wished Cooper a good morning. 

“Good morning to you to, what are you making?” Cooper asked, getting closer to the stove, and thus also to Kurt. 

“Just some pancake mixture I found chilling in that cupboard,” he said, pointing to the specific cupboard with the spatula.

“Oh shit,” he cursed under his breath. He looked at the pancake in the pan, flipped it over and saw a slightly burnt pancake. 

“It’s alright, I’ll eat it,” Cooper smiled at him. “Safe the good ones for my little bro, he loves pancakes! I’m sure you already knew that though.” 

“Yea sure,” Kurt said, looking at Cooper, who was smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Wait, this was your plan all along. Distract me, so that you’ll have some food. Hm, I see how it works in this household.” 

Cooper just raised his eyebrow and scooped the pancakes out of the pan. He put them on the place he’d just gotten out of one of the other cupboards and drizzled some syrup over them. Once he was done, he retrieved a pair of dishes out of the same cupboard he’d taken his own from and placed them next to the stove. He also grabbed three mugs and placed them on the kitchen counter. “He likes tea in the morning.” 

Cooper then knitted his eyebrows, “why am I even telling you this? You already know this? I’m sorry, I just need to get used to my little brother having a boyfriend. Although it’s not the boyfriend part that throws me off,” he said reassuringly, “it’s just a bit hard that after all these years he’s finally brought someone home.” 

“Erm, yea, well,” Kurt stummered, not really knowing what to say to that. He appreciated Cooper reaffirming that he wasn’t homophobic, although he wasn’t sure why Cooper wanted to state it like that. 

Luckily, Kurt was saved by Blaine making an entrance at that moment. “Good morning,” the younger Anderson bid, he had a soft smile on his face. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” 

“No, no, you’re not love,” Kurt said, to which Blaine raised an eyebrow. Kurt just hoped Cooper didn’t see that, but when he looked over, he seemed to be engrossed in the pancakes. 

“Cooper stole some pancakes I see,” Blaine said, laughing a little. He knew his brother’s shenanigans. 

“Let me burn them and then claimed them,” Kurt affirmed. 

“Hey, I was only saving the best for you Squirt! Your boyfriend does make a mean pancake though,” Blaine groaned at the nickname. Cooper had used it the day before as well, but then he’d been too nervous to really think about it. The nerves had died down now, being replaced with embarrassment. 

“Enough, and here,” Kurt said, shoving a plate piled with pancakes into Blaine’s hands. 

“Thanks,” Blaine smiled lovingly at Kurt before sitting down with his brother. They discussed their plans for the day, but didn’t really decide anything until Kurt came to sit with them as well. They planned to show Kurt around Westerville, properly this time. They’d go down to a cafe for lunch, drive around a bit and have a nice stroll around town. They decided to go for the stroll during dusk, so that they would be able to see the nice Christmas lights around town.

-

At dinner, everything seemed to be okay that night. Conversation was flowing, Kurt tried extra hard to get it going because he wanted Blaine to see that everything was alright. Cooper helped as well. Since their short bonding time in the kitchen, Kurt had started to like him more. 

Everything went smoothly until Blaine’s dad turned to Blaine, who had been sitting at the head of the table this time around. “So, son, you were really serious about this gay thing, hm,” he said. He sounded patronising, he was belittling his son and his feelings. Rage started to build in Kurt’s body, he was ready to explode, however, he tried to keep it together. 

“Yes, dad. I was, I am and I always will be,” Blaine said fiercely, looking at his father dead in the eye. 

“You really aren’t going to bring around a girl, I should’ve known,” Alexander murmured. 

“Father,” Cooper scolded, it seemed as if he wanted to say more, but he was cut off by Kurt. 

“With all due respect Mr. Anderson, I’m not going to sit here and let you disrespect me or my boyfriend. Blaine told you he likes boys when he was 14. You have had more than enough time to wrap your head around that. The least you could do is show some respect when he brings his boyfriend home. And let me tell you, he almost didn’t want to because he was afraid that exactly what happened just now would happen. He hoped it would be different, but sadly, you proved him wrong. See that look on his face, that was caused by you and your inability to show approval of him,” Kurt stood up, shoving the chair he’d been sitting in backwards so powerfully that it almost fell to the floor. 

Kurt held his hand out for Blaine, “C’mon, Blaine. We’re going. I’m not letting him talk to us like that.” Blaine looked bewildered, still trying to process what had just happened. 

“Where do you think you’re going,” Alexander angrily screamed after the pair. He’d shoved his chair back as well, the other two Andersons were still at the table, looking at each other with shock on their faces. 

“Honey, please sit down,” Pamela tried to reason with her husband. 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he screamed at her. That’s when Cooper came into motion. He stood up calmly and walked over to his dad. He put his hands on his father’s shoulders and moving in between him and the door, which he swiftly kicked closed with the heel of his foot. 

“Do not touch me,” Alexander heaved. Cooper wasn’t scared of his father though, he had a few inches on him and he was fitter as well, so if it’d turn into a fight, he’d win. 

“No, you listen to me carefully. Did you hear what Sebastian just told you. Your own fucking son was afraid to bring his boyfriend home, because you have had homophobic tendencies all this time. I get that it was a shock at first, but it’s been so long since Blaine told you and you still can’t fucking accept it. That’s pathetic.” 

Cooper let go of his father, who looked at him in shock. Cooper now pointed at his mother, “And you’re not even a hair better.” 

“You should both be ashamed of yourself. You are lucky Blaine even came down here, I don’t think I would’ve if I were in his shoes. Time and time again you have disapproved of him. If you still want him in your life, then it’s time for you to step up,” Cooper looked at his mother, who was whimpering in her seat, and then at his father, who didn’t look much better. He closed the door behind him, trying to find his brother and his boyfriend. 

“Blaine,” he shouted. He didn’t get an answer, but when he bursted into his brother’s room, he found the pair there. Blaine’s cheeks stained with tears and Kurt trying to comfort him. 

“What do you two need? I’ll do anything to get you away from here. You shouldn’t have to put up with them,” Cooper said. Kurt’s attention shifted to Cooper and so did Blaine’s, they hadn’t even noticed Cooper had entered the room until he spoke up. 

Blaine looked up at Kurt, who gave him an encouraging nod. Cooper soon had an armful of Blaine. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Blaine kept muttering. It was as if it was his mantra. Before Kurt had heard it and now it was directed at Cooper. 

“Do you think we should drive up to Lima already?” Kurt suggested. 

“Maybe you should,” Cooper said. “I tried to talk sense into them, but I think they need a little time. Especially since you tainted father’s ego, Sebastian.” 

“His name is Kurt,” Blaine blew their cover. 

Cooper pushed his brother backwards, question written all over his face. “Wait, what?” 

“My name’s Kurt,” Kurt repeated. He felt like taking over. 

“So what is this then? What just happened?” Cooper seemed to get more confused with the second. 

“Blaine was actually dating Sebastian when he asked your parents if he could bring him over. Or well, it later turned out that Blaine thought they were dating, but to Sebastian they weren’t exclusive. So, when Blaine asked him to fly out for Christmas, he ran. My friend Rachel knew Blaine here and told him to ask me for a favour, so he did. He asked me if I would be okay with fake dating him in return for a ticket home,” Kurt explained. Cooper’s face flashed from confusion to surprise to some sense of hurt.

“Why’d you agree to that? Especially since he told you our parents are homophobic,” Cooper really did not understand it, but then thought he had a revelation. 

“Wait, no don’t tell me, it’s because you’re in love with him, isn’t it?” He said, looking as if he’d just cracked the code. 

“What? No? Why’d you even think that?” Kurt was the one confused now. Like yes, Blaine was a nice and attractive guy, but he wasn’t in love with him. 

“I think it’s mutual,” Cooper mused. Blaine had stayed quiet during the entire talk, but he couldn’t any longer. 

“Cooper, shut up. You’re not helping one bit. Kurt agreed because he couldn’t afford a ticket home for Christmas. As he said yesterday, his dad has suffered a heart attack and he’d do anything to be together with him for Christmas,” Blaine explained, sounding somewhat angry. 

“You really had me convinced you were dating, that’s all I’m going to say,” Cooper said, before quickly adding that he wouldn’t mind having Kurt as a brother in law, which made the pale boy a shade of bright red. 

“Stop it,” Blaine said. 

Kurt raised his hand, placing it on Blaine’s shoulder to let him know it was okay. “I also asked Blaine to spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with my family because I want him to feel accepted for who he is. Whether that is my friend, my fake boyfriend or just a gay person,” Kurt explained. Urging why they’d still have to see his father. 

“Thank you,” Cooper said, it sounded genuine. 

“C’mon,” Cooper waved his arms, signalling for both boys to get into them. They quickly brought it in and huddled together in a group hug. “I’m so glad you two found each other.” 

Once the group hug broke apart, Cooper urged them to pack their bags. He promised to drive them over to Lima. Kurt had just forgotten to remind Blaine that he hadn’t told his father about their surprise. He knew his father would be more than happy to see him, he just wasn’t sure how he’d react to the Anderson brothers being there as well. However, the more the merrier, right? 

Kurt zipped up his suitcase. Kurt pushed the suitcase to the stairs and just when he was about to lift it, it was taken from him by Cooper. “C’mon, don’t you think it’s better when I carry it down?” 

“Excuse you, I am perfectly capable of carrying my own suitcase down,” Kurt reminded him. Blaine touched his shoulder, making Kurt snap out of it. He shook his head and told the older Anderson to go ahead and carry it down the stairs. 

“Kurt, can you do a last round around my room to see if we didn’t forget anything?” Kurt nodded and went back to Blaine’s room. He quickly looked around and didn’t really see anything. He checked another time to be absolutely sure and that’s when he noticed the envelope on the bedside table of the side he’d slept on. He wasn’t sure whether that had been there before, he hadn’t really paid attention to it the night before, nor during the morning. His mind had been too occupied with Blaine. 

When he took the envelope in his hand, he noticed his name on the front of it, so Blaine had definitely left it there for him. He wanted to read it, but he also didn’t want to let the Anderson brothers wait for too long. Kurt peeked inside, to look at the length of the letter inside and decided that he would keep it in the pocket of his jacket to read it later on. 

When he came down stairs, the guys were in the car already with the engine humming. He quickly slid into the backseat where Blaine was sitting as well. 

“What did you tell your parents?” Kurt asked softly, he didn’t want to send Blaine into a spiralling breakdown again, but he seemed to be handling it fairly well. 

“I didn’t say anything, Cooper talked to them,” Blaine answered him. 

Kurt looked in the rear view mirror to meet eyes with Cooper, “what did you tell them?” His voice sounded stern, as if he were Blaine’s brother rather than Cooper. 

“I told them I’m taking you to Sebastian’s, or well, Kurt’s place and that I won’t be back until tomorrow. I’ll book a hotel or something, don’t worry,” Cooper said as he detected the slight panic on Kurt’s face. 

“No, no, don’t be silly, I’m sure you can stay the night. You’re already going out of your way by driving us to Lima, you shouldn’t have to stay in a hotel,” Kurt said.

They drove in silence for a couple of minutes. It was actually quite comfortable, each was just lost in their own thoughts. Kurt was wondering if he should inform Cooper about his surprise. 

Kurt cleared his throat before he spoke, “I haven’t- erm- exactly told my dad I’m going to be there for Christmas.” 

“Wait? What? I’m driving you down to Lima and you don’t even know whether your father will be okay with that?” Cooper said defensively. 

“No, what I’m saying is that I’m surprising him. Me being home is my Christmas present to him and since Blaine made it possible, I thought he should come as well. I’m sure my dad will be even more thankful than I am, so he’ll be fine with it. It’s just you Cooper, I’m not sure whether he’ll let you in the house,” Kurt joked. Blaine looked at him slightly panicked as he couldn’t entirely detect the sarcasm. 

“You’re kidding right?” Blaine asked. Cooper just laughed, whether that was at Kurt’s joke or at Blaine’s stupidity. 

“Yes, Blaine, yes he’s kidding,” Cooper clarified, chuckling once again. 

“Sorry, I thought so, just wasn’t sure," Blaine sheepishly said. 

“No problem, love,” Kurt said, giving Blaine a sweet smile. 

“I thought you said you weren’t together,” Cooper remarked from the front seat. He looked in the rear view mirror to watch the two in the back. 

“We’re not,” Kurt said once again. 

“Then why did you call Blaine ‘love’?” Cooper questioned teasingly. Both boys started to get red cheeks, Kurt because the word had just slipped from his lips and Blaine because he hadn’t even really caught the pet name. Blaine didn’t mind it either, he actually quite liked being called love by Kurt. 

Kurt didn’t grant Cooper an answer. He knew the elder guy was just teasing them and he wouldn’t give him the pleasure of getting any more of a response out of him than he already had. Blaine didn’t speak either, he just kept staring at the back of the seat in front of him. 

Cooper had turned up the radio and found a channel that played Christmas songs only, so the boys had a bit of a singalong. Kurt was entranced by Blaine’s voice and he probably stared at him way too often, but he didn’t really care. Blaine’s soft and gentle voice really suited him. The soft honey eyes really brought out the softness in Blaine altogether, Kurt had never noticed that before. It was listening to Blaine sing that made him realise that. He’d heard his voice before, during that time Blaine sang him to sleep, but he wasn’t able to see his eyes then. It was the combination that made it obvious. 

Blaine caught Kurt staring at him when he turned to look at Kurt. Kurt hadn’t been singing for a while and Blaine just wanted to check if the other boy was alright. He seemed alright, more than alright even. It gave Blaine chills, the intense look Kurt had on his face when he stared at him. It was weird, but he didn’t want Kurt to stop. For the second time that day Kurt had been staring at him for longer than deemed appropriate, yet Blaine didn’t mind it one bit. Blaine looked away from Kurt’s face and noticed the boy’s hand in the seat between them. He reached out and softly traced the palm of Kurt’s hand with his thumb. 

Kurt looked down at the hand Blaine had just touched. The simple contact send shocks of warmth through him and made him pull his hand away. He was a bit shocked by the reaction of his body, he had never experienced that when Blaine had touched him. Sure, it had been pleasant when he did, but the heat hadn’t been there before. Kurt took in a sharp breath and moved his hand towards Blaine’s again. 

“Kurt,” Blaine whispered, it was hard to hear above the loud music, but Kurt still caught it. It was as if the two were in their own little world without the loud music blaring through the car. 

Blaine looked at Kurt to see if he heard him, when Kurt met his eye, he knew he had. “Did- did you find the letter?” He asked softly, but clearly nervous. 

Kurt nodded. “I didn’t read it though.” 

“Why not?” Blaine’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. 

Kurt shrugged lightly, “I didn’t really have time. Was it important? I can read it now, if you’d like.” Kurt’s hand went to the pocket of his coat to retrieve the letter. 

“No, no don’t read it now. We can read it later,” Blaine said. 

“You sure? I’m sorry I didn’t read it earlier.” 

Blaine nodded, before focussing on his and Kurt’s hands again. They were now touching again, but not entwined, which Blaine quickly changed. He checked Kurt’s face for permission, which he was granted. 

-

“Kurt, Kurt, wake up,” Blaine shook Kurt’s shoulder. Once again Kurt had fallen asleep on Blaine during travelling. 

“Mhhm what?” Kurt said, blinking his eyes open. Luckily it wasn’t that light out, so his eyes didn’t need a lot of time to adjust. 

“We’re nearing Lima, I guess we’ll be there in like 5. I need you to guide me to your house since you never gave me an address. Maybe you also need to think about how to approach this surprise.” 

“Oh, yes, sure. It’s quite simple, once you drive past the entrance sign, it’s the first left, the third right and then it’s at the end of the street,” Kurt instructed. “For your other remark, I guess we’ll just ring the bell. What else can we do? Like there’s no time to dress me up as a present anymore.” 

“You planned to dress like a present?” Blaine said, looking at Kurt as if he’d just lost it. “Is that why your suitcase is so ridiculously large?” Blaine added. 

“No slander of my suitcase alright? I needed to bring home presents for my stepmom, my dad and for you of course silly. Sorry Cooper, I didn’t get you anything,” Blaine’s face fell at that moment. It made Kurt a bit apprehensive to continue, he didn’t want Blaine to have another breakdown and this was how the last one had started out. 

“Are you okay?” Kurt asked, worry written all over his face. 

“Yes, I didn’t really bring you a present, that’s all,” Blaine replied. 

“That doesn’t matter, alright?” Kurt assured him. 

In the front driver's seat, Cooper snorted. “You could just kiss him Blaine,” Cooper chirped in. 

Blaine frowned at what his brother had just said. He wouldn’t be that kind of person. Holidays were supposed to be holidays, not anniversaries. 

Kurt had scrunched up his face in disapproval as well. Which made Cooper laugh a little harder. 

Cooper parked the car in the empty parking spot in front of the Hudson-Hummel household. “So, we’re here,” he stated the obvious, “how do we commence?” 

“Well, we get out of the car. Stand in front of the door, knock and wait for the door to open. Then we hope my dad doesn’t suffer another heart attack from the surprise,” Kurt said cynically. 

“Okaaay, let’s do it!”

The three guys all stepped out of the car. Kurt lead the Andersons to the front door. They stayed behind Kurt as Kurt rang the doorbell. Nerves were raging through his body. He knew his dad would like this, but he still felt squeamish. 

“Coming,” they could hear Burt screaming from inside. They didn’t say anything, just waited for Burt to actually open the door. 

Burt opened the door and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets once he realised his son was standing in front of him. He closed the door and opened it again to check whether he’d seen that right. 

“Hi dad, it’s me,” Kurt said enthusiastically. He made a little pirouette to show that it was really him. 

“Oh son,” Burt said, emotion in his voice. He quickly stepped outside in his socks and pulled Kurt in for a hug. “Who did you bring?” Burt asked as he noticed the company of his son. 

Once Burt realised him, Kurt introduced the Anderson brothers to his father. 

“So which one is your boyfriend?” Burt questioned once they were all in the hallway. 

Blaine’s cheeks were stained pink again and Cooper was wearing a grin. 

Kurt on the other hand, rolled his eyes and said: “Neither. I can bring a friend home dad, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a boyfriend.” 

“Sure, Kurt. To what do I owe the honour?” 

“Let’s get into the living room first. Where is Carole by the way?” 

“Oh, she’s watching one of those ER programmes in the living room, so let’s just go there,” Burt agreed. 

Kurt pushed the door to the living room open, “hi Carole! It’s so nice to see you again,” he smiled. He quickly walked over to his step mother to engulf her in a hug. “It’s good to see you again as well, Kurt.” 

“This is Blaine and Cooper Anderson,” Kurt introduced the brothers to Carole. “This is my step mother Carole Hudson.” 

Burt sat down in his chair, while the boys all sat down on the couch. Carole had turned off the television and busied herself in the kitchen to get some drinks out. 

“So, Kurt, I thought you weren’t coming down,” Burt said, still looking a bit puzzled. 

“I wasn’t,” Kurt nodded, “that was until Blaine offered me a plane ticket home.” 

“Why would you do that? Are you crazy?” Burt told Blaine, the puzzled look had been exchanged for a look of pure misunderstanding. 

Carole entered the room again, hands full with steaming mugs of coffee and tea. She handed them out before sitting down in the other big chair next to Burt’s. 

Before Blaine could even answer, Kurt had opened his mouth already. “Well, see Blaine asked his parents if he could bring home his boyfriend. I know I just said I’m not his boyfriend and I really am not. His boyfriend broke up with him. He asked me if I wanted to come home with him because he couldn’t bear going home without a boyfriend after bugging his parents for a long time about it,” Kurt explained. 

“So you two fake dated? And you knew?” Burt directed a dirty look at Cooper. 

“No, Sir, I did not. They told me about two hours ago. I don’t condone this either, but I do understand why Blaine would resort to something like this,” Cooper answered Burt’s question. 

“And why is that?” Burt still sounded as if he was scolding the boys on his couch. 

“Because -” Kurt started. 

“No,” Blaine said, “Let me tell him.” 

Kurt nodded encouragingly at his friend, then placed his hand on Blaine’s thigh. Burt eyed the hand and Kurt just shook his head at his dad. 

“See, this was the first time I even thought about bringing someone home. I was certain about my relationship, which I had never really been before. Sadly, it turned out that I had taken casual dating for a relationship, so once I proposed visiting my parents for Christmas, the guy bolted,” Blaine explained. He swallowed before continuing his story, he took comfort in Kurt’s hand resting on his thigh. “My parents have never been very fond of the idea of me being gay. So I kind of had to beg my mum to allow me to bring a boy home. I already felt as if I had greatly disappointed them by suggesting to bring a guy home. I just couldn’t go there without a guy on my arm, they would have never taken me seriously if I showed up without anyone.” 

The more Blaine talked, the more Burt’s face softened. His big green eyes were full of pity. “I’m sorry kid, that’s not right.” 

“Dad, it’s okay, I’ve talked to him about this. He told me beforehand that his parents were slightly homophobic, so I told him the only requirement for me going home with him was that he’d spent Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with us,” Kurt explained. He just hoped Burt got the message and wouldn’t start a ‘you matter’ speech at the very moment. The one Kurt had received had been about sex, but he knew his father could melt it into one ‘appropriate’ for each and every moment. 

“Thank you, Mr Hummel,” Blaine said. 

“Wait a minute, you said Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, it’s Christmas Eve Eve,” Burt remarked. “And why is he here?” he said pointing at Cooper. 

“I’m here because things went down during dinner tonight. My poor excuse of a father asked Blaine if he was really sure about this boyfriend thing. And if it weren’t for Kurt, he would’ve said more hurtful things. I told these boys I’d drive them down here, so that they wouldn’t have to return to our house to return a car.”

“That’s very kind of you. Will you be driving home again, or do you need a place to stay?” Burt asked.

“Burt,” Carole hissed, “you can stay the night dear, no problem.” Carole gave Cooper her best smile. 

“Thank you Miss Hudson,” he smiled back. He wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee he’d just picked up of the coffee table. 

“Please call me Carole, you too Blaine. My house is your house,” she said, being the good hostess she was. 

Burt turned the television back on. “Do you guys watch sports?” He asked the Anderson brothers, knowing his own son wouldn’t be happy with this. 

“Sure,” the Anderson brothers said at the same time. Burt flicked through the channels until it landed on the sports channel. Kurt sighed and searched for his Vogue copies. Burt had refused to cancel his subscription, so there were more than enough issues to catch up on. Carole left the room, presumably to make the beds for the boys. 

Kurt started to yawn and he felt pretty tired. Blaine was on his side and he was nice and warm there, they were just about touching. When Kurt bent over to place the second Vogue issue down next to the couch, he heard the wrinkling of the paper in his jacket. He was reminded of the letter Blaine had given him. 

Kurt softly pushed Blaine’s arm, ‘the letter’ he mouthed to him when Blaine looked at him. Blaine nodded and looked around him. He clearly wanted to find a private place where they’d be able to read it together. 

“Let’s go upstairs,” Kurt said. 

“I put up an air mattress in Finn’s room, Finn’s bed is made as well and I made yours too Kurt,” Carole told the boys. 

“Thank you,” Kurt said before pressing a kiss to his step mum’s cheek as a goodnight. He then went to his dad and gave him a tiny hug before leaving the room altogether. 

Kurt led Blaine down to his room. Like they’d done the day before in Blaine’s room, they explored Kurt’s. Blaine carefully touched some of the memorabilia Kurt had left behind. He also looked at pictures. Especially the ones of Kurt and his mother and Kurt and Finn. 

“This is your mom, right?” Blaine asked and Kurt nodded. He moved over towards Blaine and took the photo frame in his hand, he swiped his thumb over his mother’s face. “She’s beautiful.”

“She was. She was really nice as well. It’s always a little harder during the holidays, I guess that’s also why I was so desperate to get down,” Kurt said, voice laced with sadness. He placed the picture back on the shelf and picked up the one with Finn in it. 

“Who’s that?” Blaine asked, he spoke softly. The way Kurt was looking at the picture showed him that he had been important to Kurt and he didn’t want to seem disrespectful. 

“Finn,” Kurt answered, voice barely above a whisper. 

“From the room?” Blaine asked. Kurt nodded, “he was my step brother, he passed away just after I started college in New York.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Blaine said, he took the photo frame out of Kurt’s hand and placed it on the shelf next to Kurt’s mother. He took Kurt’s hands in his own and look at him, clearly touched. 

“It’s okay,” Kurt said as a single tear ran down his face. 

“It’s not,” Blaine said, wiping the tear off Kurt’s cheek. “But it’s alright,” he pulled Kurt in for a hug. 

Kurt leant into Blaine’s body, it felt good to be held like that. He had hugged people in the past, but it felt like it had been ages since someone had really held him. He felt comfort radiating from Blaine. Blaine was calm. Blaine was safety. Blaine was warm. Being held by Blaine felt like being loved. In Blaine’s arms Kurt realised that he could definitely love Blaine, if he let him. 

“The letter,” Kurt whispered, slowly pulling it out of his jacket pocket, which proved the be difficult whilst being held. 

Blaine let him go again and took the extended letter. “Shall I read it to you?” 

Kurt nodded, wiping another tear of his face. The little moment he and Blaine had just had, had driven him to tears again. It made him realise how alone he’d felt in a world full of people. A world full of friends and family, yet he felt as if no one had ever cared that much about him. 

Blaine took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it. Before he spoke, he cleared his throat, ”Dear Kurt, gosh, I don’t know why it had to sound so formal,” Blaine laughed. A little smile broke through on Kurt’s face as well. “Go on,” he said. 

Blaine pulled Kurt to the bed, he thought it would be better if Kurt was sitting down. The letter wasn’t anything special, but it felt better to sit down. 

“Dear crazy Kurt, I still don’t really understand why you agreed to be my fake boyfriend,” Blaine said, he looked up knowingly, because now he knew why Kurt had agreed. He had given Kurt the only way out of New York and Kurt grasped it with both hands. 

“I may not know why you agreed to this, but what I do know, is that I am forever thankful. I know dinner yesterday night wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I know I broke down and I wish you would’ve never had seen that, but you did. Your reaction was better than I could ever wish for. So once again, thank you. I will forever owe you. I am also really sorry that your nightmare has seemed to become true. My dad did kind of ignore you. My mom referred to you as my friend as well. I still have hope though. Maybe they realise having a gay son isn’t that bad. Why am I even writing this? I’m sorry, once again.” Kurt put his hand on Blaine’s shaky leg, to show him that it was really okay. 

“Go on, I wanna know what else you had to say,” Kurt smiled in encouragement. He couldn’t remember ever receiving a letter and it was actually quite exciting although Blaine was there to read it to him. 

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m very thankful that I can call you my friend. You have shown me nothing but kindness. You are one of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met and it blows my mind that you think I’m worthy of your friendship. Thank you for being my friend. I think we owe Rachel big time,” Blaine stopped reading, he knew the letter was almost at its end anyway. He looked at Kurt, who had tears pooling in his eyes once again. 

Kurt reached out to take the letter back, “Thank you,” he whispered. 

“I’m not done yet,” Blaine said, moving the letter towards his own body. It didn’t matter very much as the boys were sitting very closely anyway. Kurt did let go of the letter and let Blaine finish it. 

“I think it’s only appropriate to tell you that I’m sorry you had to witness me crying so often. But it means that you make me feel safe, Kurt,” Blaine looked up at Kurt, “You really do.” 

Kurt sat even closer to Blaine although it was almost impossible. Blaine aligned his side with Kurt, making it possible for the other to read along as well. 

“Thank you. I wish you happy holidays and I hope to see a lot of you in the new year. Love, Blaine,” Blaine sighed and folded the letter back again. He threw it behind him on the bed, he had better things to do at the moment, such as tending to the teary-eyed armful of boy he had next to him. 

“You make me feel safe as well, Blaine,” Kurt said. His eyes flickered down to Blaine’s lips, he wanted to kiss him. Blaine’s letter had only intensified the attraction he had felt to Blaine. It felt as if his and Blaine’s lips were magnetic and that they had to meet. He saw Blaine’s eyes gaze at his lips as well, but in the end, he chickened out. He threw himself into another hug. The force was so strong that Blaine fell backwards on the bed. 

“You make me feel safe as well,” Kurt whispered into the hug. 

The beautiful moment was interrupted by a knocking against Kurt’s bedroom door. The boys quickly sat up, doing their best to look presentable. 

Kurt cleared his voice, “Yes, come in.” 

Cooper pushed the door open. “We’re across the hall Blaine. I’m planning on going to sleep now and if you wanna sleep in that room as well, I hope you do the same. I’m planning on driving home again early tomorrow.”

“Okay, yes sure, I’m coming,” Blaine said, he looked at Kurt. Kurt sent a small smile his way. It was okay, after those confessions, a little alone time was probably what he needed. 

-

When the clock struck 3 AM, Kurt was wide awake. He had fallen asleep with a warm feeling in his chest and it was still present. He felt as if he were on fire. A fire that had been ignited by Blaine. He had never felt like this in his life, so it also felt a bit unsettling.  
Kurt kind of cursed himself for not kissing Blaine when he had the chance earlier. However, he also felt like it was too soon as he’d only realised he liked Blaine like that like a couple hours earlier. 

Kurt’s mind was running over hours again, so he decided to hop out of bed. He tracked down the only pair of joggers he owned and put them on. He then walked down the stairs, he was surprised when he saw that the lights were on down stairs. When he opened the door to the kitchen, he saw his dad sitting at the dining table. 

“Kurt,” Burt exclaimed when he saw his son entering the kitchen. 

“Dad, I didn’t think you’d be awake,” Kurt said, he immediately began to worry about his father. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yes, Kurt, everything is alright. Don’t worry about it,” Burt sighed, he knew Kurt would start doting him the moment he walked in. 

“I just can’t help it, you know after what happened,” Kurt explained. 

“Sit down, do you want tea? Is that why you came down?” Kurt nodded and watched as his dad poured him a cup of tea. He left the bag in the cup and retrieved the milk from the fridge. 

“Thank you,” Kurt whispered quietly. “Why are you awake? You shouldn’t be.” 

“Those boys you brought in just reminded me of Finn,” Burt said, looking at his hands. 

“I know, I miss him too,” Kurt said, looking his dad in the eye. 

“I’m glad you’re here kid. The circumstances may not be the nicest, but I’m still glad you’re here. I was dreading Christmas to be honest with you,” Burt told Kurt. Kurt nodded, he had felt the same. 

“The Blaine kid, what’s up with him?” Burt asked. Kurt wasn’t sure how to interpret the question.

“Just please be nice to him. He’s been through a lot as of late,” Kurt said, looking at his father with pleading eyes. 

“You love him, don’t you?” Burt said, it was a statement dressed up as a question. 

“I think I do, yes,” Kurt replied. 

“He seems like a good kid.” 

“He is. The kindest person I’ve ever met, apart from you,” Kurt said honestly. 

“I just want him to be good to you, that’s all I care about. I trust you to be good to him as well, especially if he’s as broken as you make it out to be,” Kurt told his son. 

“He is, I think. He broke down yesterday night, I was scared to bring him here. I didn’t want him to feel worse seeing how you accept me and all that,“ Kurt offered. He had always been bad at keeping things from his father. Losing Finn and his mother had only brought the two of them closer. It had shown them the importance of family, of loving each other, of accepting each other and of making an effort for each other. 

“I think you did the right thing. I think his brother wouldn’t have driven you down if he wasn’t on board.” 

“You could be right about that. Thank you dad, talking to you always makes me feel better,” Kurt said. Burt stood up from his chair and pulled Kurt from the one he was sitting on.

“C’mon kiddo, bring it in,” he said, holding his arms open for a hug. For the second time that day, Kurt felt safe, warm and loved. All those feelings were conveyed through the hug. 

Burt let go of him again and said his goodnight. Just before closing the door behind him, he said: “Don’t you dare screw this up Kurt. I’m serious, let yourself have this, kid.” 

Kurt nodded, he was planning on taking his dad’s advice. He finally felt like he deserved love. He felt as if he’d waited long enough to finally be happy and it looked as if Blaine was the key to his happiness. 

-

“One present only, Kurt,” Burt scolded. Each year on Christmas Eve, the Hudson-Hummels would open one present. Burt had actually bought a few presents for Kurt, which were on their way to New York, or maybe they had already arrived, he wasn’t sure. 

However, celebrating Christmas without presents wasn’t something Burt Hummel was going to let happen, so he had gone out and bought a few presents for Kurt and Blaine. Both had protested. 

Blaine had tried to get Kurt to go Christmas shopping as well, but Kurt had assured him that he didn’t want a present. Blaine had joked to just give him a kiss then, but both knew it wasn’t the right time for that yet. 

“Yes, dad,” Kurt sighed, he rolled his eyes at his father, but took only one present from under the tree. He handed the present to Carole. She carefully unwrapped it, revealing a healthy cookbook. Burt sighed when he looked at the present his wife had received. 

“You never stop, do you?” He looked Kurt dead in the eye. Kurt just laughed and looked lovingly at his dad. 

“You know I only do this because I love you,” Kurt told his dad. Burt sighed another time, but smiled back at his son. Blaine watched the scene in front of him, it pained him that he didn’t have that with his father, but he felt special being allowed to watch this. 

“My turn,” Carole said, she walked over to the tree and got another present. She handed it to Blaine. Blaine unwrapped the present and found a pair of socks. He smiled, a pair of socks was always good. 

“Thank you very much,” he smiled at both Burt and Carole. 

Blaine went to the tree and looked for a present for Burt. He handed it to the older man. Burt shook it, “I’m sure this is LEGO,” he joked. Kurt groaned, Carole didn’t pay attention to it and Blaine chuckled softly. 

“Well, thank you Santa Claus, for this wonderful pair of socks,” Burt said jokingly, he winked to his son, knowing he bought the socks for him. 

“Well, let’s see if Kurt has been nice this year as well,” Burt said, before getting a present for Kurt. Kurt carefully unwrapped the present, revealing a skinny tie. 

“Thank you,” he breathed. 

“Are you boys staying for a cuppa, or do you have more important things to do?” Carole asked, she hadn’t talked to Kurt about Blaine yet, but Kurt knew she was in on it all. She knew Kurt was sort of in love with Blaine. 

Blaine and Kurt exchanged a look, “we’ll be upstairs for a bit. I’d love to take a cuppa up though.” 

“Sure, love, wait a second, then I’ll make them for you,” Carole said, while she quickly left the living room. 

She came out with a platter with a pot of tea, two cups and a role of biscuits on it. “Here, take this upstairs,” she smiled at the boy. Blaine took it out of her hands and walked towards the door. Kurt opened it for him so that he could leave the room and walk up the stairs. 

“You’re keeping that door open, Kurt,” Burt remarked. Kurt groaned, but agreed with his father. It was better to stay on Burt’s good side. 

Once they were upstairs, Kurt opened the door to his room for Blaine. Blaine slid the platter onto Kurt’s bedside table. 

“Wait a second,” Kurt told Blaine, before going over to his suitcase and rummaging through it. 

“Okay, now sit down, close your eyes and stick your hands out,” Kurt instructed. Blaine obliged and stuck his hands out. Kurt placed his present for Blaine in his hands. Blaine weighted it and made a questioning face. 

“Open up,” Kurt said. 

“Can I open it?” Kurt nodded and Blaine started to carefully peel the paper off the present. When it was bared, Blaine was left with a black book in his hands. He opened it to see what was inside. 

“You made me a scrapbook? Here’s the picture I took the first day we met,” Blaine said, pointing to the photo. Kurt nodded sheepishly, he hadn’t known what to get Blaine, but decided to do something for Blaine. It wasn’t that expensive and if Blaine didn’t like it, he could rip out the pages and just use it as a notebook. 

“Do you like it?” Kurt asked. He looked hopeful. 

“No, I love it,” Blaine said, shocking Kurt at first. 

“Okay, now it’s my turn,” Blaine said. 

“But-I-I thought you didn’t have a present for me?” Kurt was confused to say the least. 

“I didn’t, but I thought of something,” Blaine replied. He was looking around for something. 

“Do you still have the letter?” He asked Kurt. Kurt nodded, pulling a box from under his bed. He presented Blaine with the letter. Blaine shook his head. 

“Read it again and please count how many times I said either thank you or how thankful I am,” Blaine instructed. Kurt still looked at him in confusion. “Just do it, okay?” 

So Kurt read the letter again and counted each resemblance of thank you. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five times.” He looked up at Blaine, curious as to what would happen now. 

“Okay, then I’m taking you out five times once we get back to New York,” Blaine said. 

Kurt looked dumbstruck. How had Blaine just made that up? “Are you serious?” 

“Yes, unless you don’t want me to be?” Blaine said, he started to get insecure now. 

“Don’t be stupid, I love it. Just one question, Blaine,” Kurt said, he had a daring look on his face. 

“What is it?” 

“Are they dates?” Kurt asked, he didn’t dare to look Blaine in the eye. 

“If you want them to be,” Blaine answered, it had been his intention, but he wasn’t sure if Kurt was on board. 

“Yes, yes, I’d love that Blaine,” Kurt answered. Blaine let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding. “Weren’t it dates all along, though?” Kurt teased. Blaine’s cheeks turned a fury red. 

“Maybe they were, we didn’t call them that, but maybe they were,” Blaine admitted. 

“Santana actually called it. You know, you weren’t the only one with suspicious roommates,” Kurt said, laughing at the stupidity of it all. 

Blaine’s eyes flickered down Kurt’s lips again. Kurt watched Blaine lick his own lips, but he just couldn’t commit to it yet. He wondered what Blaine would taste like, but he wasn’t ready to find out. He still needed a bit to wrap his head around the idea of being in love with Blaine. It seemed as if Blaine was struggling with the same feelings as he didn’t lean in either. 

“I never thanked you,” Blaine suddenly remarked. Kurt shrugged, “neither did I. Thank you though.” 

-

On Christmas Day, the Hummel-Hudson house had been filled with laughter and food. Blaine and Burt had watched some sports together, while Carole and Kurt busied themselves in the kitchen to get Christmas dinner ready. 

The days after Christmas were busy as well. Blaine and Kurt talked a lot, their friendship grew even stronger. There was some bonding with Burt as well when Blaine and Kurt joined him in the tire shop. Burt taught Blaine how to change oil and the three of them did some work on another car. Carole claimed she wanted bonding time as well, so the day after Kurt and Blaine baked cookies with Carole. 

Their second to last day was the most special one though. In the morning Kurt had asked Blaine if he was ready to meet more people of his family. Blaine had agreed, albeit hesitantly.

“Dad, can I borrow your car? I want to take Blaine to see them,” he told his father. Burt nodded, wriggling the keys out of his pocket and throwing them to Kurt. Kurt caught the keys and called for Blaine. 

The pair ended up in the car and they took the short ride to the cemetery. “Is this what I think it is?” Blaine asked when they pulled into the parking lot. 

“I want to show you to my mum and Finn, if that’s alright with you,” Kurt said. He looked at Blaine, he’d gotten pretty good at reading his expression, but the one he wore that very moment was hard to decipher. 

“You really want to show me to them?” Blaine asked, it was as if he couldn’t believe it. 

“Yes, yes I want to,” Kurt said. 

“Thank you,” Blaine muttered. He sat in his seat and looked almost defeated. 

“Now get out of the car, or else we won’t be able to see them,” Kurt said, he sounded weirdly excited. 

“It’s been a long while since I was here,” Kurt admitted to Blaine. It always made him feel sad when he visited. It also made him feel guilty, as he wasn’t there often enough. Burt had taught him that it wasn’t about how often they visited or how often he thought about them. It was about the love in their hearts for them. That was what was most important. And the love would never fade. 

“We’re here,” Kurt said, looking down at the grave of his mother. 

“I always find this weird,” Kurt said as he crouched down. “Hi mum, it’s me again. I’m sorry I haven’t been here for a while. I’ve been in New York, living my dream. Or at least, I’m trying to.”

He looked up at Blaine, who cut in. “He will, I’ll make sure of that. Thank you Mrs Hummel for raising such a beautiful and sweet boy. He means a lot to me.”

“That’s Blaine mum. He’s someone I hope to call my boyfriend in the future,” Kurt smiled at him. “I think you’d like him mum. He’s very nice. I’m sure you can already tell that by what he’s told you so far.” 

“I try to be. Your son has been very kind to me and I can only return his kindness. I hope there is a future for us as well,” Blaine admitted. He blushed a little, it was weird to confess your love for another person to a tombstone. 

“See, I’m sure it will work out. I like to think you sent him my way, so thank you mum. Sometimes he really reminds me of you. He makes me feel safe like you did and he sings to me. His voice is soothing just like yours used to be,” Kurt started to tear up. Thinking about his mother would never not do that to him. He had come to peace with losing her, but the hurting of missing her would never stop. Blaine wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulder. 

“I promise I’ll protect him Mrs Hummel. I promise to be the best version of me for him. I promise to make him happy.” 

“Thank you,” Kurt whispered to Blaine. Blaine stood up and walked away to give Kurt some space. He wanted for him to have a moment with his mum, but Kurt was not having it. He followed Blaine and slipped his hand in Blaine’s. 

“We have to go left here to find Finn,” Kurt said quietly. 

Kurt stopped in front of the tombstone once they’d reached it. “Hey Finn,” he said awkwardly. Talking to his mother’s stone had been awkward, but this seemed even more awkward as it hadn’t been as long and the relationship between the two had been way different. 

“I found him Finn, like you found Rachel.” Kurt said, Blaine looked at him in disbelief. 

“You mean our Rachel?” He asked. Kurt nodded. 

“Rachel is finally doing okay again, Finn. She’s still hurting, I can tell, but it’s getting bearable. She can be happy again. Although I’m sure it’s a bit harder this time of the year.” 

“I know you’d ask me if he is good and yes, yes he is. My dad approves of him I think, so then you should as well, in my opinion,” Kurt told Finn. 

Blaine didn’t know what he had to say. He could sense that this was different than it had been just before. 

“His name is Blaine, thought you’d like to know that.” 

That were the last words Kurt said before pulling Blaine away from the tombstone. “I think that’s enough for today.” Blaine only nodded, it wasn’t for him to determine. 

Once they were back in the car again, Blaine thanked Kurt. It had meant a lot to him to be introduced to the people Kurt had held dear. 

“I’m sorry I can’t give you the same in return. I don’t even know whether my own parents like me,” Blaine said. 

“None of that, we’ll just take this day by day, alright? This is about us, not about them. As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else.” Kurt said, he softly smiled at Blaine, who seemed to understand what Kurt was saying. 

“You’re right, this is about us.” 

-

Blaine had previously invited Kurt to his and Sam’s New Year’s Eve party already, but this time, he made sure to tell him it was a date. It was their first date of the five Blaine had promised Kurt as a Christmas present. In the few days they had been back, both had been too busy pleasing their roommates and telling them about what had happened. 

Santana had been smug about being right all along, although she was also slightly mad at Kurt for not committing yet. He could’ve had sex already, but Kurt had told her that wasn’t what this was about. Sure, he and Blaine would have sex eventually, but it was way more than that. It was more like a soulbond than anything. Rachel had been quiet during this discussion, probably thinking about Finn. Kurt had apologised, to which Rachel had told him that he shouldn’t. He deserved to finally be happy. And if one of them was to get it, that it should definitely be him as he had been waiting the longest. She had had Finn after all. 

Sam wanted all the details from Blaine as well. So Blaine had recited the entire holiday to the best of his ability, as per request from Sam. They had also prepared the house for the NYE party. It wouldn’t be anything too crazy, Sam had invited Mercedes and some of his modelling friends. Due to his walk in with Kurt, Blaine had forgotten to invite anyone else, so it would be just Kurt and his roommates. 

At nine all the guests had arrived. Blaine had only had eyes for Kurt. He wore a glittery pair of trousers, which greatly accentuated his bum. On top of that he wore a simple black blouse, he still looked absolutely fabulous in Blaine’s opinion. 

Santana had been catcalling them all night, she’d been teasing them and trying to get them to kiss. They had even refused to play spin the bottle or drink any alcohol. It seemed to be a disgrace to anyone else, but they didn’t care. They were in their own little bubble.

“If you don’t kiss once the clock strikes 12, then I’m officially done here,” Santana said, just before the countdown started. 

“Oh you just wait, once we’ve locked lips, we’ll probably never stop,” Kurt sassed right back at her. She rolled her eyes at him and continued screaming along to the count down. 

“THREE. TWO. ONE. Fucking kiss okay,” Santana said, looking at her friend. Brittany was there trying to kiss her own girlfriend, who seemed to be way too preoccupied with other people’s business. Once Brittany locked lips with Santana, it seemed to be the cue for Blaine and Kurt to share their first kiss as well. 

It was all one big cliché, the moment they locked lips, the fireworks went off. Not just in their imagination, but in reality as well. 

“That was amazing,” Blaine breathed, or he tried to, the kiss had quite effectively taken his breath away. 

“Hmm,” Kurt agreed, “I only have one new years resolution this year,” he then said. 

“And that is?” Blaine asked. 

“To make you my boyfriend. So, Blaine Anderson, would you do me the honour of being your boyfriend?” Kurt asked, a big smile on his face. 

“Yes, yes, of course silly. I thought you’d never ask. You have to promise me one thing though," Blaine said. 

“That is?” 

“That you will be here next year.” 

THE END


End file.
